Ghost in the Woods
by CaCadeA
Summary: You never know what you'll find in the woods. Based off TMNT 2012 'verse, cannon until the end of season two, then AU. Raphael X OC
1. Prologue

December 31, 1999- 6:00 PM

"But I don't wanna stay with Jennifer," Val pouted and threw herself dramatically on her parents bed, watching as her mom put her long, black hair up. Her mom's purple evening gown accentuated her pregnant belly. "Brice gets to go," Val pleaded.

Her mom chuckled, it was a soft, lyrical laugh, "Honey, he comes with me everywhere now," she rubbed her belly as the baby kicked, "but in three months, he'll be staying home with you and Jennifer when Daddy and I go out."

Val scowled, blowing her long bangs out of her eyes. It wasn't fair, she thought, New Year's Eve parties ought to be for kids too. She was in kindergarten after all; it wasn't like she was a baby.

Her dad came around the side of the bed, buttoning the jacket of his uniform. He grinned down at his little girl then dove down and scooped her up, flipping her onto his shoulder and tickling her, "Is there a grump in the house?"

"Ahhh!" Val screamed, laughing, "Stop it, Daddy!"

"I don't know," he teased, still tickling, "I think there may still be some grumps in there…"

"No, there aren't," Val gasped between peals of laughter.

Her dad plopped her onto the bed, beaming down at her now smiling face. "That's better; can't have the grumps taking over my princess."

"I'm not a princess," Val said, hopping up so that she was almost as tall as him and going into a pretend fighting stance, "I'm a warrior!"

Her dad laughed, messing her dark hair with one hand, "My warrior princess."

"Do I really gotta stay here alone?" she asked, giving him her best puppy dog eyes.

"Not alone, with Jennifer," he corrected, pulling her into a hug, "and I tell you what. If you promise to be good for Jennifer, Mama and I promise to be back in time for midnight."

"Gerald," her mom gave an amused sigh.

"What? It's a business party. We go, we shake hands with the big wigs, we leave. We'll be back in time so I can kiss mini-Zena as the clocks toll. Oh, and her pretty mama too."

Her mom, chuckled as she put on her long rhinestone earrings. "You two are a piece of work, you know that?"

"You hear that?" her Daddy stage whispered. "It wasn't a no."

December 31st, 1999 7:00

"Have I told you," Gerald said, leaning into his wife's hair as they made their way to the front doors of T.C.R.I. , "you look gorgeous."

"A time or two, I think," she said with a smile, "but I can pretend I didn't hear before." She leaned her head against his shoulder.

As they made their way around the room, talking with his colleagues he couldn't help watching her. She still moved like the dancer she was when they met. If anything time and children had only made her more beautiful. If it weren't for her, he wouldn't have been able to stand these kinds of functions. It was the one downside he'd found to being a military consultant to these independent companies.

"Oh," he said, leading her towards a tall, thin man standing at the edge of the crowd, "I ought to introduce you to Dr. Brown. He's heading up the research department; a genius even if he's a little weird." He whispered the last bit with a wink. "Dr. Brown," he said a bit louder as they made their way to the man, whose bored expression didn't change as he turned to them.

"Sergeant Collins," the man nodded. "And you must be the one known as Mrs. Collins."

She restrained a laugh with a smile, "So pleased to meet you Dr. Brown. Gerald speaks so highly of your work."

"Yes, work," the doctor said flatly, "I should take you to see my work. Come with me, please." The last word hung heavy, like an afterthought. He turned and walked towards the back doors. Gerald shrugged an apology to his wife, offering her his arm as they followed the strange man.

The hallway was well lit, but eerily quiet as the noise of the party faded behind them.

"I believe you will find this," Dr. Brown said as he opened the door, "amusing."

The lab lights flicked on, revealing several caged filled with animals. A huge dog stood up and walked to the edge of the cage. Sgt. Collins put a couple fingers into the cage, scratching his nose.

"Animal research," Lydia tried to hide the disgust from her voice.

"And plant," Dr. Brown said, closing the door behind them as he gestured towards a rack of exotic orchids and ivies.

"So what exactly do you work on here?" Gerald asked diplomatically as he examined the other cages.

"Improvements to our great armed forces, of course," Dr. Brown said, opening a cabinet. He drew out a large canister of glowing fluid. It reminded Lydia of a bank deposit canister. Her husband was busy looking at the cages, but her eyes didn't leave the scientist as he drew out a hypodermic needle and filled it with the blue, glowing fluid.

She walked closer the Gerald, putting her hand on his arm, trying to gently guide him towards the door. Sensing her discomfort, he said, "Well, Dr. Brown, it looks like you're doing some fine work here, but we'd better be getting back to the party." Reaching out, his eyes grew large as he found the door was locked. Pulling on it harder, with no luck, he tried pushing in his access code, but found it didn't work either. "Okay, Doc, that's enough!" he said, his voice growing thick with aggression as he put himself between the doctor and his wife. "Let us out now."

"The one known as Sergeant Collins will not be leaving this place, for this place is the place that is known as the transformation room. The one known as Sergeant Collins will be transformed for greater service to Kraang." He lunged at Gerald with the hypodermic needle pointed at him.

"Get off!" Gerald shouted, throwing the man into the wall. The animals in the lab all began to pace their cages. The dog howled. A monkey jumped up and down, screaming. Even the snake watched transfixed, its head following the battle.

Gerald pinned the doctor against the wall with his left hand as his right hand pounding into his head over and over again. It felt like he was hitting metal, and there was no blood. He cursed under his breath between blows. Grabbing the doctor by his lapels he shook him hard, "Let us go now!"

"The one known as Sgt. Collins will not leave this place, for it is in this place that the one known as Sgt. Collins will be transformed into that which is more equipped for service to the Kraang."

"Like hell I will!" Gerald said, throwing the doctor to the floor, the needle fell out his hand, rolling a few inches out of his grasp. Gerald grabbed the doctor's ears, slamming his head into the concrete. The side of the doctor's face broke; blue flashing lights were visible through the crack. "What the..?" Gerald stopped for a moment, thrown be the horror of what laid in front of him.

"Gerald!" Lydia screamed as the robot doctor reached out and grasped for the needle and plunged it deep into Gerald's shoulder, the plunger emptying all of the ooze into his system. Gerald fell, convulsing as his body contorted.

She turned and banged on the door, "Let me out! Somebody, help us, help us!" She screamed, desperately. A rough hand grabbed her shoulder and spun her around. "The one known as Lydia Collins will not be leaving this place," the robot said flatly. Instinctively, she kicked him hard in the groin, and felt the bone in her ankle crack, but he didn't flinch. Not knowing what else to do, she pulled herself away from him and rushed to the other side of the room, but tripped, crashing into the side of the table. The canister of mutagen fell to the ground, shattering. She stumbled in pain, not looking where she was going and slipped, falling into the spilled ooze. There was blinding pain. She tried to pull herself up on the shelf on plants, but it crashed down on her.

The robot looked between the spasming man to his wife, who appeared to have been knocked unconscious. Sgt. Collins body grew fur. His nose elongated into a snout. The Kraang robot turned to enter his access code when Gerald leapt on him. The adrenaline only served to make the newly formed mutant stronger. He plowed the robot doctor's head into the door, crushing the mechanical skull into a heap of sparking metal. The robot dropped limp, and a pink brain crawled out of its chest. It took one look at the massive mutant and gave a terrified squeal, rushing to the other side of the room. "Not today," Gerald growled, jumping on it and sinking his fangs deep into the acidic flesh, tearing out a huge chunk of it and spitting it to the ground. He threw the dead Kraang to the floor and looked around for his wife. He saw what looked like a hand protruding from under a bookshelf, but it wasn't his Lydia's hand. It was brown, with green veins that curled like veins over the flesh. He looked down at his own fur covered, clawed hands, cursing. He rushed to the shelf and lifted it. The woman under it was wearing Lydia's dress. Her black hair was now green veins, with leaves and flowers in it. Her features were much the same, but not. His eyes stung as he cradled her in his arms, thinking he'd lost both her and his unborn son, but her eyes fluttered opened.

She screamed, jumping back with inhuman speed. Her ankle that had been broken had completely healed, although that fact was not the most pressing on her mind. "Get away from me!" she shrieked, holding out her hands in front of her. Her neon green eyes opened wide as shock as she saw her hands. "What?!" she gasped, falling to the floor staring up at her husband.

"Lydia, it's me," he said in a voice that no longer sounded like his own. It was a deep rumble, like a low growl. He tried to make it softer, "It's Gerald, baby. I swear."

His mind reeled in a million directions. He wanted to charge into the party; to demand answers, to seek revenge, to seek a cure. However, he knew, somewhere deep inside him that this alien doctor wasn't the only one in on this conspiracy. His stomach gave a sickening lurch. He had to get them out of there, out of New York City. Bending down, he offered his wife his hand, "We've got to go. Now! We have to get Val."

At their daughter's name Lydia shrank back. "I can't, we can't," she pleaded, tears spilling down her cheeks, "we're monsters! She's going to be terrified!"

"We're her parents," Gerald growled, standing up and going to the door. "She knows us. She'll see past this." He slammed into the door, denting it.

The baby in her womb jumped at the sound, and Lydia cried a little harder. What would become of this child? Would he be spared their fate? The door flew off its hinges, crashing in the hallway. Alarms screamed. "Time to go," Gerald said, pulling her up and along the hallway. The next hallway was dark, but he found that his night vision was greatly improved.

From the far end of the hall a door opened. A dozen robots with weapons marched in rows of two. Gerald pulled his wife into an opened room, leaving the door opened a crack. There was no reason to get into another fight now. He was a man of strategy. They needed to get out, to get Val, to find a safe haven, to carefully plan out their next move.

When the robots had gone into the next hall he hurried his wife out and along the dark corridors until they found an exit. The night air was bitterly cold as they ran through the parking lot. It was difficult for him squeezing into the car, but he made it. He took side streets, hoping anyone who saw them would think they were on their way to some New Year's costume party. Parking in back of their apartment building he leaned in to his wife. "We're going up the fire escape," he said, turning to his wife. "We're getting Val, and some supplies, but we've got to get out fast. Understand?"

She nodded, trembling visibly.

Their living room window was locked, but Gerald smashed it in with his elbow, climbing in and then offering his hand to help his wife around the broken glass. There was a shriek from the hallway and he spun around to see fourteen-year-old Jennifer Garret hyperventilating in the hallway. "Jennifer," he said as softly as he could, taking a tentative step towards her. She leapt back, grabbing a lamp on a side table and holding it like a weapon in front of her.

"Get back!" the tiny, blonde haired girl yelped.

"It's me, Gerald Collins. There's been an accident. I need to get Valarie," he said, slowly advancing. "Don't panic."

"Get back!" she shouted again. "You're not getting Val!"

More anger than he'd ever felt before coursed through him and he leapt on the girl, toppling her to the floor. "Give me my daughter!" he growled in her face. Saliva dripped off his fangs onto her cheek as she struggled to get free.

"Gerald!" Lydia's lyrical voice came from behind him. A gentle warning, it calmed him, and he got off the terrified girl. She scrambled up, rushing to the door and he bounded to stop her, but his wife's hand was around his wrist, restraining him. "Stop Gerald!" she said softly, "let her go. We need to hurry. You get supplies, I'll get Val."

He growled, but went to their bedroom and quickly began throwing supplies into several bags.

Lydia went into Val's room. It had all the trappings of girlhood, ponies, unicorns, princesses, but also some odd things like action figures and a toy bow and arrows. Bending down, Val's eyes fluttered opened, "Mama?" she asked, rubbing her eyes.

"It's me," she said softly. Her heart dropped as her daughter's eyes grew wide. "Please don't be scared; I know I look different."

"You've got flowers in your hair," the little girl said in wonderment as she reached her hand up to feel the delicate petals.

Her mother gave a happy sigh and pulled her beautiful daughter into her arms. She wasn't afraid, and as long as they were together, things would turn out okay in the end.

Twenty minutes later, as the ball was dropping in Time Square, the Collins' car was headed towards upstate New York, where Gerald remembered an abandoned hunting lodge, deep in the woods. It would be a good place to stay, at least until they could get everything figured out. Looking in the rear view mirror, he snuck a peek at his wife in the back seat, cradling their daughter, who was sleeping again. She hadn't even flinched when she saw him, giggling as she rubbed the fur on his arms. Brave little warrior princess, he thought, with a faint hint of a smile.

In the city behind them, below the streets, a giant rat, named Splinter, was standing in front of a storm grate with his four young sons, turtles named after the grand masters of the Italian Renaissance: Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Raphael. The children watched the celebrations above with wide eyes. "Happy New Year, my sons," he said warmly. "Welcome to the new millennium."


	2. The Hunter

December 12th, 2012

"Guys! Guys!" Mikey ran into the living room of the farm house breathlessly, waving his arms above his head. Leo and Raph barely looked up from their video game. April walked in from the kitchen with a glass she was drying, "What's up, Mikey?"

"I saw a ghost! Like a real live ghost!"

"Technically," Donnie said as he walked down the stairs with a stack of papers, "according to poplar mythology a ghost is the spiritual imprint left behind by a dead person. So, uh, it's not alive."

Mikey's eyes had the same glazed over look they did whenever Donnie explained anything. "You should have seen it, it was all, like, white and was running like woosh! swoosh! like a ninja man."

Donnie have him a flat look, "You found a ninja ghost?" He accentuated every syllable.

"Hey, we're ninja turtles," Mikey rationalized.

"True," Donnie admitted reluctantly.

"He may actually be on to something," April said diplomatically. "When I was younger there were stories of the ghost of a little girl that rode a huge wolf through the woods. I was absolutely terrified that one day they'd burst into my bedroom at night."

"Hey maybe she's all grown up!" Mikey exclaimed, looking out the window as if he could spot her again.

Donnie face palmed. "Idiot," Raph groaned. "Ghosts equal dead people. Dead people don't 'grow up!"

"Well maybe this is a different ghost. She didn't have a wolf. Hey, she may have been a he. I dunno..." Mikey scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Think it's anything we've got to worry about?" April asked Donnie.

He shrugged, "Did it attack you?"

"Nah," Mikey shrugged, "she, uh, he... whatever, it just was running on the tree branches."

Donnie and April exchanged looks. "Running on the tree branches?" April asked skeptically.

"I told you it was a _ghost_ _ninja_!" Mikey said like she should have remembered that critical detail.

Leo set down his controller and stood up, stretching. "Time to patrol," he said. "Where's Casey?"

"Working on the car in the barn," Donnie said. "I'll get him."

"Good we're going to split up and look for this 'ghost.' It may have ties to the Foot," the oldest brother said.

December 14th, 2012

Their search two days ago had turned up nothing, not that Raphael really thought it was. Ghost ninjas, he thought, shaking his head; of all the crazy stuff Mikey could come up with... Well, it was slightly less crazy than the cottage cheese demon.

He crouched in a snow covered bush. His breath came out in small visible puffs in the cold air as he scanned the area. Above him hung a red bandana. It was Leo's idea, playing capture the flag in the snow. It would make for good training, Leo said. Raph grumbled, and a good way to catch pneumonia too.

They'd broke off into two teams, with Leo, Donnie, and April on one and Raph, Mikey, and Casey on the other. What he wouldn't have given to be out there with Casey actually capturing the flag rather than standing around like a dope for the last hour waiting for Donnie and April to try to ambush him. Mikey could have stayed in the stupid bushes and freeze his tail off. The white hood he'd donned as camouflage did little to keep the cold at bay. He'd barely resisted the urge to smack Donnie in the head when his genius brother had reminded him that they ought to be grateful they were warm-blooded turtles. You'd have to be fire-blooded to make this whole exercise bearable.

There was a rustling from a nearby bush. "Smooth move, Don," Raph scoffed to himself. When the branches parted, though, it wasn't Donnie or April, but a huge buck deer that made its way into the clearing. "Oh great," Raph mentally groaned, "stupid thing's going to set off my traps." The buck avoided them, though, as it made its way to a tree at the far end of the clearing and started scrapping off the bark, eating it as it did.

He knew he should have been watching for the other team, but he couldn't help casting glances at the majestic creature. After five minutes there was a twang from the right side of him and the buck fell to the ground, an arrow sticking out its heart. Blood pooled, staining the pristine snow. Raph's eyes were as big as saucers, completely forgetting to watch for the other team. A few minutes later, without the sound of footsteps accompanying him, a white clad figure walked into the clearing. The person was tall and lean, a cowl covered most of his head and face, but Raph could see him scanning the parameter as he knelt by his kill. A bow and quiver of arrows were slung over his shoulder and a belt of several knives was at his waist. Could be Foot, Raph thought, his muscles tensing. He wished there was a way to alert the others without giving away his position before he knew more about what he was dealing with; after all, it could just be some hunter.

The hunter was muttering something that sounded a bit like a prayer before it wrenched the arrow out of the deer's body and rolled it onto its back. Drawing out a knife he carefully started gutting the animal. Raph shook his head. Of course, of all places to decide to play "Capture the Flag" they would do it where some moron would go bow hunting.

Standing, the hunter threw a rope over a tree branch and tied the other ends to the deer's back feet. Grunting, he strained to hoist the animal up into the tree. It was in the moment that he went to tie the rope off that the hunter's foot triggered one of Raphael's traps. As quick as the blink of an eye the hunter flew upside down by an ankle and the deer crashed down. There was a cry of pain as the rope snapped taunt. The cowl fell into the snow, revealing a long, thick braid of black hair. As the hunter spun around Raph got another surprise, the hunter was a girl, albeit, a cursing girl, whose hands were covered in deer blood, and whose eyes were murderous.

He couldn't just leave her hanging there, and without thinking he took a deep breath and walked out into the clearing himself. Instantly the girl's eyes were on him, narrowing. "Get away from my kill!" she spat, her brown eyes were pools of anger.

He put his hands up, "I'm just gonna get you down."

The girl pointed the gutting knife she was holding at him, then grunting pulled herself up and sliced the rope so that she fell. She landed, and staggered on the severely sprained ankle with a wince. "I can get myself down," she growled, pulling the rope off her ankle without her eyes leaving the turtle. "You work for the Kraang?"

"How do you know them?" Raph asked in slight shock as he slid his sais out his belt. After all, the girl still did have a knife drawn on him. "You Foot?"

For a moment the girl looked bewildered, but her face quickly fell back into stoic aggression. "I don't know anything about any foot," she said. "Back away from my kill."

"Look I don't want any stupid deer," Raph grumbled, but took a step back. "You oughta get off that ankle though."

"I'll be fine as soon as you get lost," the girl said without relaxing her pose.

From the other side of the bushes there was a rustle and Donnie and April emerged. "We heard talking. Who's she?" April asked, looking with confusion between Raphael and the hunter.

He girl looked between the new arrivals and Raphael. "You family or something?" she asked.

"We're brothers," Donnie said, taking in the girl's posture, and deciding to proceed cautiously. "I'm Donnie, this is April, and he's Raph. What's your name?"

The girl paused for a moment, obviously weighing out her options. "Val," she said her body relaxing only by a minute degree. "Look, I don't want any trouble. I just want to get this deer cleaned and get it back home."

"Where's home?" April asked.

"Around here," Val said cryptically, her eyes darting between the three people before her.

"There's only one house around here," April corrected her, "and we live there."

"Obviously your sense of geography's a bit _off_ then," Val said.

"Let us bring you back home," Donnie said softly. "It looks like you're hurt; definitely in no condition to be hauling 150 pounds of deer by yourself."

"I'll be fine," she said, her voice icy.

"Maybe we ought to go," Donnie said, leading April towards the clearing.

Raph took a few steps in their direction then turned back to the girl. She stiffened again. "It's about to be dark," he said gruffly. "These woods are gonna be filled with wolves and you're covered in blood."

The girl actually laughed, a cold, sarcastic laugh, "I'm not afraid of wolves, but by all means, run along home if you are."

"I'm not afraid of no wolves," Raph countered, his temper flaring.

"Come on, Raph. Leave her," Donnie coaxed from the shadows of the forest. With one final look, the red-clad turtle turned and followed the other two, leaving the girl in the clearing alone with her kill.


	3. The Cabin on the Hill

A/N- Thanks for the sweet reviews! I wanted to note that I know season 3 opened in the Spring, but I kind of wanted to play with the idea of the turtles in the snow, so I kept it wintery. :)

Val cursed under her breath as she hoisted the cleaned deer onto her shoulders. The added weight made the pain her her ankle almost unbearable. It was a lot lighter than it would have been had she not taken the time to field dress it, but then again, had she not done that, she may have not sprained her ankle. "Better just get to stepping," she muttered. "Stupid turtle and his stupid trap!" Mentally grumbling, she trudged through the snow as the sun began to set, oblivious to the fact that she wasn't alone.

Twenty yards behind her, Raphael walked silently in the shadows. He grit his teeth when he heard her comments about him and the trap. She should have been more mindful of her surrounds; that was part of the reason he was there, trailing her in the miserable cold instead of home eating pizza and beating Leo on the Atari again. When they'd gotten to the other base and Donnie and April had explained what happened, Raph told them all to go on home alone. "Why? So you can check on your girlfriend?" Mikey said, making a kissing face.

Raph slapped him hard in the back of the head. "I'm not Leo," he grumbled, "having some broad pull a knife on me isn't my idea of a good time. I'll be back in a couple hours."

"I oughta go with you," Casey said, stepping forward.

"You don't do stealth real well," Raph cited. "It's just one little girl with a chip on her shoulder."

"He's one to talk," April muttered after he disappeared into the brush. "You know," she said to Mikey, "maybe Val is the ghost you saw a couple days ago."

"Sweet! Raph's girlfriend's the ghost ninja!" Mikey said, making his voice sound spooky as he uttered the last two words. "That's so epic."

"That girl wasn't a ghost," Donnie said matter-of-factly. "But she did seem to be highly trained. It appeared that she'd killed the deer with a single arrow to the heart, and didn't seem to unfamiliar with the knife. Perhaps we ought to follow..."

"Raph can handle himself," Leo said looking into the woods. "If he's not back in a few hours, we'll go after him. Until then, give him his space." He remembered Karai; perhaps his younger brother had found a similar spark of goodness in this huntress. If nothing else, he could give him a few hours to find out.

Raph followed her up as the woods grew thicker. She picked her way over the roots a bit slower as the terrain started to slope up a hill. When she slid to her knees, he almost gave up his cover to help her when a huge shadowy figure emerged. "Val," the creature's voice grumbled in chastisement. "You should have just tied that up and come for Brice and me." The creature stepped into a small patch of moonlight and Raph saw that it was a huge mutant dog. "Or is it a wolf?" he thought, vaguely remembering April's comment about the ghost girl who rode on the back of a huge wolf. Maybe "ghosts" did grow up.

"Gotta do some things on my own, Dad," Val voice carried in the chilly air.

"Dad?" Raph thought perplexed. That mutant was her dad?

"You sprained your ankle too," her father grumbled, shaking his head as he shouldered the deer. "Nice kill, though. I'm proud of you, princess. You lean on my arm and we'll get you back home so Mama can fix you up."

Raph's mind reeled. So that's why she was so secretive. Her dad was a mutant and their family was hiding in the woods. There was a faint, sensible voice in the back of his head telling him to turn around then and go back home. (It sounded an awful lot like Lameonardo, he thought.) His curiosity was peaked, though, and hanging back a few more yards, he carefully followed the duo as they made their way up the hill to their house.

The cabin was set so deep in the woods it wasn't surprising that April had known nothing about it. The front portion of the home was small and old looking, but there was a large, seemingly newer extension to the back. The windows shone with the warm glow of candlelight, but there was also a TV set on in the living room. Through the curtains, Raph couldn't make out much, but he saw two figures moving around in there.

Suddenly, the wind changed position and Val's father spun around. "We're not alone," he growled, pushing his daughter in through the opened front door and tossing the deer onto the porch. "Lock up, I'm going hunting."

A surge of adrenaline coursed through Raphael's body as he turned and climbed up into the tree. The slippery branches were precarious, but nothing he couldn't handle as he jumped from solid limp to solid limp, trying to put as much distance between him and the furious mutant below him as possible. He froze as man ran under the tree he was standing in, waiting, secretly thanking fate that he'd had enough sense not to bring Casey along. As the man made his way back, Raph moved around the tree silently, staying in the shadows.

"I know you're here, mutant!" the man growled into the darkness. "You come back here and I'll kill you!"

Raphael waited for the man to go back into the house, then hurried through the darkened treetops until he got near the farm house, then dropped to the ground. Making sure no one was around, he hurried into the house.

"What up, Romeo?" Mikey asked between bites of pizza.

Ralph grumbled as he spun a chair around and straddled it. Reaching over he grabbed two of the last slices of pizza, folding then over on themselves, and taking a bite. Swallowing a mouthful he said, "Her dad's a mutant."

Everyone looked shocked except April. "Well, that explains why she didn't freak out when she saw you guys," she said pensively.

"She's got more family too, looked like," he said. "Up a hill to the northeast, they've got a cabin."

"Well, at least she got home safe," Leo said, watching for Raph's reaction. His brother's eyes had a far away look he knew all to well. "Did you meet her father?"

"In a manner of speaking," Raphael muttered. The rest of the family stared at him waiting for more, so he added, "He didn't see me, ok, but he knew I was there. Apparently they don't like visitors."

"What kind of mutant was he?" Leo asked.

"I don't know either a wolf or maybe a dog, like a husky or something," Raph said as he finished off the pizza.

April's eyes grew wide and he knew she was thinking the same thing he had. "So she was the ghost from the stories..." she said in almost a whisper.

Donnie's eyes hardened, "There's no way to be sure about that, April, and that guy may be dangerous."

"But think about it," she continued, "what if he got turned around the same time as you guys and has been hiding in the woods all this time, not knowing what was going on in the outside world."

"You're romanticism this," Donnie groaned, pinching between his eyes.

"I am not," she argued. "What if they don't know three are other mutants out there, and people who understand. We ought to try to..."

"You're not going to look for them," Donnie said firmly.

"You're not my boss, Donnie," April growled pushing the chair back roughly and stomping out the room.

"Smooth," Casey said, getting up and following her. Donnie watched in mute horror as he rounded the corner out the room.

"She can't go after them,"he said, almost to himself.

"I'll talk to her," Leo said, with a sigh as he got up and left the table.

Mikey looked between Raph and Donnie and whistled, "Sooo, apparently you both got a thing for the local girls."

Donnie just rolled his eyes, leaving the room. Raph smacked him in the back of the head, "Shut up, Mikey," he grumbled as he pushed his own chair and storming outside. It wasn't like that, he told himself. He had been worried about her, sure, but now he was worried that there was a murderous mutant dog living in the same woods they did. That was more important than some stupid girl.


	4. Snow

December 17th 2012

Val sighed as she leaned up against the cold window pane of her loft bedroom. Watching the snow fall in lazy spirals, she wished there was something to do, but she'd already read every book in the house five times, beaten Brice's high score on their ancient Game Boy more times than she cared to count, and explored every portion of the surrounding woods so that she had them memorized. Even the house sparkled with immaculate cleanliness that offered no chance for even the distraction of work. Her mind drifted back to the strangers she'd met in the woods days before. Of course she'd known there were other mutants out there; the frogs, for one, were an annoyance at first, especially when they found Val was a human member of a mutant family. Her dad had dealt with them swiftly, though and she hadn't seen them for months. Maybe these turtles were part of a new faction they'd have to deal with. Donnie seemed kind, and there was something very familiar about the girl, April.

She was deep in thought when something cold and wet exploded on the side of her face. Jumping up, gasping, she saw her little brother, Brice standing at the top step, almost doubled over in laughter. In many ways, he looked just like a normal kid, save his electric blue hair that shimmered with startling bio-luminescence and his eyes, which were the same violent shade as his hair. "Gotcha!" he shouted as soon as he was able, jumping off the top step. Rather than falling, he drifted, landing softly so that his feet barely hovered over the floor.

"Oh, you're gonna get it now, little squirt!" Val growled as she rushed down the ladder; her mother had healed her ankle the same day she'd sprained it, but even fully healed, she was nowhere near as fast as her younger brother, who floated over the snow in the yard like a phantom.

To her aggravation he spun around, floating backward with complete ease, "You're getting slow, old lady."

Without pausing she reached down and scooped a handful of snow, forming it into a ball as she ran, "Speed isn't everything," she said, hurdling the snowball towards him. He dodged to the left, like she knew he would, and the snowball hit him squarely in the face. "Accuracy counts a lot too," she chuckled, grabbing another handful of snow as he did the same. He threw and she rolled out the way, springing up and pelting him in the chest as she did.

"Ok, ok, I give," he laughed, throwing his hands up in surrender.

Grinning wickedly, she hit him in the chest with another snowball, "Oh no, buddy boy. You started it, this is war."

"Better listen to her," their dad called from on to the windmill, where he was reinsulating the wires. "She means business."

Brice threw a snowball that caught her arm as she dove out the way, but she got him in the chest again. "Some help, Dad?" Brice called.

"This one's all you," his dad called down, chuckling as he watched his children playing in the snow.

A few minutes later, his wife came into the porch, "Lunch is ready, guys!"

Dusting themselves off the went into the house, still pushing and horsing around. "And that's why I don't take you hunting. You know that right? You're a really lousy shot," Val said ruffling his hair.

"Maybe if you took me hunting now and then I wouldn't be a lousy shot," he said defensively.

"Sorry, skill proceeds assignment. Until then, you're stuck with Dad," laughing, she pumped water at the sink and cleaned her hands.

"Well, until we find out if those new neighbors are friendly or not, neither of you will be going anywhere alone," Lydia said firmly.

Val scowled, but was watched her mother ladle soup into their bowls. Despite the winter, the orchids still boomed in her viney hair. Her chiseled face was normally so happy and gentle that to see the worry on it disturbed Val slightly.

That night, she lay awake in her bed, listening to her parents talking. "We need supplies, Gerald," Her mom said softly.

Grumbling her dad agreed. "Think we can trust them alone with those mutants so near."

"It's not them I don't trust," Lydia said. "I ought to stay behind this time."

There was a long pause. "She doesn't think they're dangerous," he said. There was heavy skepticism in his voice, but also a faint trust.

"They were teenage boys," her mother groaned. "The first teenage boys she's ever met."

"There was a girl, too," he reminded her. "You can't blame her for being lonesome."

"Yeah, well, I'm not sure her first contact with the outside world in 12 years ought to be teenage boys, whether or not they've got a girl with them," Her mother said sagely. "I don't need to tell you _why_ that's a bad idea."

"Look, Lydia, I followed one of them, could smell him, hear his heart beating. I don't know why he followed us, but I know he didn't harm her. When I went to trace her trail the next day I saw, she walked two miles with that deer, injured. He could have attacked her at any point if he'd have wanted to."

"He could have helped her too," Lydia scoffed.

He gave her a flat look, "Our Val? Look, I'm a pretty brave guy, but if I wasn't her dad, I sure as heck wouldn't want to be the one to try and help her when she was mad."

"She's got your temper," Lydia laughed.

"And it's served her well so far," he said, then yawned. "We've both heard the rumors, though. There are mutants out there not tied to the Kraang..."

"That's a _big_ if," Lydia said.

"I'm not saying I trust them, and so help me God, if any of them tried anything with Val, I'd rip their throats out, but I don't know, I kind of feel bad for the kids."

"This is the most normal life Brice could have," Lydia reminded him, "and you know Val's better off with us than growing up in the foster care system."

"Yeah," Gerald agreed reluctantly, "but if they have the chance to know other people, even if they are mutants, don't you think that's better than them being completely isolated?"

Whatever her answer was, Val couldn't hear it. She waited for several long minutes, but there was only hushed whispers, then their bedroom door shut below her. She rolled over and sighed. She didn't usually think about their isolation. Of course, she remembered the time before they'd gone there. She remembered her kindergarten class, and going to see The Nutcracker with her mom at Christmas. She remembered that there was a park near their apartment complex, and how she love spinning on the merry-go-round with the other kids. But this was their life now. They had to stay hidden so her family stayed safe. She understood her mother's hesitation. Even if these new people were mutants too, there was no assurance that they'd keep their secret safe.

She lay awake for a long time, looking at the stars outside her frosty window. Weighing out all the possibilities she could calculate, she came to one conclusion. When her parents left, she would stay near the house, and make sure Brice stayed there too. She'd keep her guard up. Even though she was curious, there was no reason to put her family's safety in jeopardy just to meet people that, in all likelihood, she wouldn't even like.

As she drifted to sleep, she thought about the three people she'd met. Maybe in a different life, she and April could have been friends; maybe in that strange existence, she could have seen the turtle boys as something besides a threat. Maybe. It was kind of funny that her dad, of all people, saw those possibilities. Her mom was usually the optimist. That night, her dreams were of snow, and turtles, and blood.

A/N- Okay, I promise a longer chapter next time. Thanks for the reviews. :)


	5. Tag, You're It

December 18th, 2012

Years in Special Ops had taught Gerald Collins to sum people up quickly. He left their cabin long before the sun rose, and picked the lock to the farm house. Sliding in silently, he planted several bugs, scanning the house. There were martial arts weapons and a sporting goods, but no guns or bombs. Everyone in the house was sleeping; four turtles and two humans. It was impossible to gauge the turtles age, but given the trappings of the house he guessed they were all teenagers. "What the heck are six teenagers doing in the woods alone?" he wondered as he slid out the house, locking the door behind himself and creeping across the yard to the huge barn.

It looked like there was a lab set up in there. He bit back a growl at the sight of a container of mutagen, but flipping through the papers on the desk he quickly saw formulas for retro-mutagen and medicines made of the ooze. Apparently, they were trying to undo the Kraang's plan. He slid a bug into a crack in the wall. They appeared to be the good guys, but this was his family he was gambling with; it would be better to harm innocent strangers than let guilty ones harm the ones he loved.

He was hiding in the woods by the time people started stirring in the house. He scanned between the channels, listening through headphones. There was playful, groggy banter over breakfast. Apparently one of the guys, named Mikey, cooked pizza omelets. After breakfast they trudged out into the snowy yard; from his vantage point he watched as they sparred against each other. They had skills, he would give them that, as he watched them. There was none of the hostility that he associated with terrorist groups, though. The red haired girl was the first one out, beaten by a turtle in an orange bandana, who apologized to her as she laughed her way to the sidelines. The next out was the other human, a lanky boy fighting with hockey equipment; he was beaten by a red-clad turtle, who brandished sais with the skill of a master. The next up were a set of turtles, one in purple, the other in blue. The taller turtle in purple spun a bo, dodging his opponent's sword. When he went to strike with the staff, though, the blue turtle rolled out the way, sideswiping his opponent's feet out from under him. While they were fighting, the red turtle took the orange turtle down in two swift movements. Gerald watched as the smaller turtle shook his head, walking to the sidelines. The red and blue turtles circled each other. Even from that distance, Gerald could see that the blue one was more calculating, while the red one fought on impulse. When one move proved unsuccessful, he would bear the brunt of his mistake and adjust with equal aggression. Their fight lasted five minutes, but in the end, it was the red turtle that stood over his opponent, grinning down.

With just that fight, he could already tell a lot of things about them. The two humans had some fighting skills, but they weren't anywhere close to being well trained fighters. The turtles, on the other hand seemed to have trained for years. Their movements were instinctive. The smallest of the turtles, in orange seemed to be the most impulsive and playful, almost childlike. The one in purple was more thoughtful and less aggressive than any of the other ones; he also appeared to have quite a crush on the red-haired girl. The blue turtle was analytical, but less hesitant than the purple turtle, he was agressive, but less hot-headed than the red turtle. If Gerald had to pin one, he would have guessed that this was the leader. It was the winner of the sparring match that Gerald watched most carefully. Of all of them, he had the most potential to be a problem. Ever since his own mutation, Gerald had experienced moments of blind rage against those he thought posed a threat to his family. It was impossible to be rational when that rage consumed him.

He listened to them until noon, watching them when they came out. In that short period of time, he figured out most of their names. Donnie was the purple turtle, and it was his lab that was in the barn. The human boy, Casey, was apparently a mechanic. April spend the morning in the barn with them, apparently mildly amused by their competition for her affection. Raph was the aggressive turtle, and he, Leo, the blue-clad leader, and Mikey, the goofy one, spent the morning playing video games.

Gerald gave a sigh of relief as he flipped the receiver off and walked back home. The midday sun didn't penetrate the gloom of the forest, but he felt a hundred times more content than he was the night before. They may not be harmless, but there was one thing that was certain, these teens weren't working for the Kraang.

"I promise," Val said, hugging her father that evening as he shouldered an almost empty duffle bag. He'd made her swear that she wouldn't go looking for the other teens while he and her mother were gone to get supplies. She made the promise easily, after all, she'd already decided the night before that her family was more important than her curiosity.

What she hadn't bet on, though, was Brice.

December 19th, 2012

"Come on, help me with these boxes," Valerie called down from the attic the next morning.

"We've already got two down here," Brice complained. "Isn't that enough."

"You want to surprise them when they get back, right?" Val said, carefully walking down the ladder, balancing a box on one arm. It was a family tradition to decorate the house the week before Christmas and leave it decorated until Epiphany. Almost all of their decorations were homemade, well, except the few their parents had salvaged from the dump and cleaned up, but over the years they'd amassed quite a lot of them. Christmas was always their mother's favorite holiday.

Val set the box down on the table and looked around. "You didn't open any of them," she groaned.

Brice shrugged. "Don't know where you want any of the stuff," he said, plopping down on a ratty couch that was covered by a homemade quilt.

Val scowled at the back of his head, "So what, exactly, do you want to do today?"

Brice considered this for a moment. "Let's play hide and seek in the woods."

"You glow," Val said flatly, "hide and seek isn't exactly your forte."

"You're so mean," Brice said with mock horror. "Okay, tag, and I'll even give you a head start, slow poke."

"You really want to play games with all this to do?" Val said, waving her hand over the boxes and staring around the normal looking cabin. Why did her brother have to be such a brat, she thought.

"One game, then I swear I'll help you make this look like Santa's workshop. Cross my heart and hope to die," he said, looking over the back of the sofa with his best pout.

"Fine," she groaned, "what do you want to play?"

"I told you already, tag," he said. "I'll be it. You've got two minutes."

"I'm seventeen," Val complained.

"And I'm twelve. Tick-tock, sis," Brice teased, laughing. "I'd get running if I were you."

Sighing, she took off out the door, grabbing her jacket off the hook by the door as she ran out. She pulled it on while she ran through the backyard and up the hill. With Brice, tag was best approached like it was a game of hide and seek. If she ran, he'd just catch her faster. She slid down an embankment, and grabbed a branch. Walking backwards quickly, she wiped out her tracks in the snow until she got to a small hollow, where she crouched, hiding.

She didn't hear him coming, not that she expected to; despite the glow of his hair, he was gifted with remarkable silence as his feet didn't have to touch the ground. She watched as he stood at the top of the embankment, looking up and down the creek bed. He didn't see her, and floated silently across the gap to the other side, scanning the woods for her. When he went out of sight, she grinned and slid out of her hiding place, running back to the house.

From behind her she heard laughter, and didn't have to look over her shoulder to know that Brice spotted her, and was gaining ground. She pushed her muscles harder, trying to dodge through the trees, but he quickly tagged her. "Looks like you're it!" he laughed, "have fun running."

With that, he took off in front of her, towards the house. She grimaced as she took off after him. Of course, there was basically no chance she would catch him now. She'd be running until lunch time when he'd get bored and hungry, and she'd finally be able to take a break and do what she really wanted to. While she ran, chasing the blue glow ahead of her, she let her mind wander to the way she would decorate. They had popcorn in the store room from the summer garden. She would pop a big kettle of that to hang on the trees outside. Then she'd have to find a small spruce for inside the house. Brice would probably like picking that out; maybe she could get him to do it alone this year, as long as he stayed near the house.

The house, she thought, her mind going back to reality. How far had they run from the house, a mile? A mile and a half? "Brice! Double back to the house!" Val shouted. She knew he heard her, because his laughter echoed back through the frozen woods. "I'm serious, Brice! Dad made me promise we wouldn't go this way!"

He slowed so that she could almost catch him, crossing his arms behind his head as he floated backwards easily. "Sucks to be you, then, doesn't it. As it stands, I didn't make any promises. You can turn back if you want," there was playful challenge in his voice, and Val grit her teeth. If she turned back, there was no promise that he'd follow her. In all likelihood, actually, he'd keep on going, and she knew with painful certainty exactly where he was going.

Laughing, he sped up again, weaving through the trees, "Atta girl, Val. Live a little!"

They ran until the forest started to thin, and she could spot the farmhouse in a large clearing. Brice dropped, skidding to a stop behind a huge tree, and pulling a scarf over his hair. "Sweet! Ninjas!" she heard him say as she neared, breathing deeply. Her lungs burned from the cold.

For a moment, she watched as the turtles sparred out on the lawn. "Okay, now you've seen them," she whispered, "time to go home before they spot us."

"Ah, come on," he whined, but she grabbed him by the back of his collar, holding tightly.

"We're going home, or so help me, I'll beat you within an inch of your life," she growled, shoving him in the direction of of their house.

"I'm going, I'm going," he grumbled, walking ahead of her. A sly smile crept onto his face, and he pulled the scarf down. "Yeah, we really ought to get home!" he said loudly.

Panic coursed through Val's body as she spun around in time to see the teenagers spot them. "Run," she said pushing Brice ahead of her. He started off, but a girl's voice called from behind them, "Hey, stop!"

Obediently, Brice stopped and turned around.

"What are you doing?" Val hissed, grabbing his arm and pulling him behind her.

"She said 'stop," he said innocently.

"And you're going to listen to _her_?!" Val asked incredulously, turning around to face the red-head who was jogging up to them, followed by a teenage boy and four turtles.

"What? She's hot," he said with a shrug.

Grumbling she stepped between her brother and the teens. "Sorry guys," she said loudly, "we're leaving!"

"Don't go," April said as she stopped in front of the black haired girl. "Remember me?"

"I don't," Brice said, with a lopsided grin, "but I'd like to."

"Can it!" Val said over her shoulder. "Yeah, you're April, right?"

April nodded. "Is this your brother?"

He pushed his way around his sister, hand extended, "Hi, I'm Brice Collins, nice to meet you."

"Great," Val grumbled. "We were just... out for a run. Didn't realize where we were. Sorry." Pulling Brice by the elbow she turned to go.

"Your ankle feeling better?" Raph's voice came from behind her.

"Right as rain," she said without turning around.

"Please stop," April pleaded. Brice halted, and Val groaned.

"What do you want?" Val asked, her eyes venomous as she searched the shorter girl's face.

"Just to get to know you," April said, her voice suddenly shy. "There aren't a lot of people around here."

Val paused, studying her for a moment, "Seem to be a lot, by my estimate."

To her surprise, April laughed, "Well, I grew up here, but I've been in the city the last few years, so this basically feels like we've fallen off the edge of the world."

Val cocked her head to the side, memories flooding back to her. "You grew up here?" she asked, almost in a whisper. So that was why she seemed familiar. She remembered one day, years and years ago.

_ She'd been bored and had wandered off through the woods when she was ten. She'd found her way here, to the farmhouse and seen a little red haired girl about her age swinging outside. "Hey!" she called out from the shadows of the forest. "Wanna play?" _

_The younger April had looked up, scanning the woods for the voice. "Who are you?" she asked, visibly trembling. _

_Val hesitated, her parents had taught her to never, ever reveal her name to anyone. "Jane," she lied smoothly. _

_"Where are you?" April called, walking towards the trees. _

_Val stepped out, laughing at April's shock. "Right here, silly. Let's play chase!" she said, running back into the woods. To her delight, the other girl ran after her. Both of them relishing in the fact that they'd found a friend. _

_They played until April's mom's voice rang out from the front porch, "April! Where are you?" _

_"Here I am!" April called, running back into the sun, "Mom, meet my friend," she turned, but there was no one there. _

_Val watched from the shadows as April looked for her, trying to explain to her mother that there had been a girl out there with her. When she'd gotten home, she'd been punished for a month for exposing her family to strangers, and she swore that she would never, ever do it again. _

Leo stepped forward, "Why don't you guys join us for lunch?"

"We really ought..." Val started, but her brother cut her off, "Sure, man! What're we having?"

"Pizza!" Mikey said with a wide grin.

"And chili," April amended. "Some of us don't live on pizza alone."

"Count me in, gorgeous," Brice said with a wink to April. Val, Casey, and Donnie simultaneously groaned, but she reluctantly followed them to the house.

"I'm so grounded," she thought, shaking her head sorrowfully. At least Mom and Dad wouldn't be back for a few days.

A/N- Okay, there you have Chapter 5. :) Next time we'll see how lunch goes down and get a bit more Val/Raph confrontat... er... dialogue. As always, thanks for the reviews, and I hope you enjoy. :)


	6. The Luncheon

Val looked around at the faces surrounding her as she slowly ate a bowl of chili at the kitchen table. Brice was sitting next to Mikey, their mouths running a million miles an hour. "So," Casey said, leaning towards her, flashing her a gap toothed smile, "you're like a local legend."

Feeling a blush rise in her cheeks, she shrugged, "Dunno, I don't really socialize with the people around here much." Her eyes could barely meet his, but she felt his on her. Instead she focused on pushing the chili around in her bowl.

"So what do you do, if you're not out socializing," he asked, undeterred.

She shrugged again, "In the spring and summer, we garden. In the fall and winter, we hunt."

"But, I mean, when you're not working," he hinted, "ever cut loose?"

At the last words, her gaze flew up to Raphael as she remembered cutting herself down from his trap. To her horror, he was watching her. They both looked away quickly. "I target practice," she said lamely.

"Yeah," Brice said loudly, "Val's the most boring person I know."

She didn't think it was possible, but her cheeks burned even hotter, as her eyes flashed up at him. "And you know, what? Two other people?" she quipped.

He looked around the table, visibly counting, "I don't know. Now I know six more, and you're still the most boring." He and Mikey laughed. Raph smacked Mikey in the back of the head as Val's gaze fell back down to her chili.

"Dude, that hurt!" Mikey complained, rubbing the back of his head.

"Well, maybe we have to change that," Casey said, putting his arm around her shoulder. "You just have to let Casey Jones show you a good time."

"Do you always refer to yourself in the third person?" Val asked, squirming slightly under his arm.

The rest of the table burst out laughing. "Don't mind Casey," April said, across the table from Val. "He's hopeless."

"Hey, not nice, Red!" Casey said, acting as though she'd seriously wounded him.

"How long have you lived here?" she asked Val, ignoring him.

"Um, we moved when I was five," she said, "so 12 years this New Year's."

"No way!" Mikey said, a light bulb going off in his head. Everybody looked at him. "You're Valarie Collins!?"

"Um, yeah," she said, waiting.

"Guys, she's Valarie Collins!" he said, looking around at the rest, as if that ought to mean something. "Come on! Valerie Collins!? Don't any of you watch 'Mysteries of New York'?"

Donnie groaned, "The ghost story show? No."

"It's not just ghosts," Mikey said defensively. "There are monsters and stuff too. But they had a special a few months ago about Val. She was kidnapped by monsters on New Year's Eve. They even interviewed her old babysitter."

"I wasn't kidnapped!" Val said defensively. "My mom and dad aren't monsters, either." Her eyes were cold as she crossed her arms, daring any of them to contradict her.

"So your parents are mutants, too?" April asked, cautiously.

"Sure are," Brice said after swallowing a big bite of pizza. "Mom was pregnant with me when they got turned. Apparently the stuff's kinda strong." He fluffed his hair with a chuckle.

Val stood up, obviously conflicted, "Brice, we need to go."

"Oh, come on," Mikey said, "You guys aren't even done with lunch."

She glared at him as she addressed her brother again, "Brice, now."

"No!" he said, locking his feet around the legs of the chair. "I'm having fun for once! You go on home if you want. I'm staying here."

"Mom and dad will..."

"Not be back for five days, at least," he interrupted. "Chill."

She stomped over and grabbed him, yanking him up by the ear despite his protests. "Thanks for the lunch," she said awkwardly over her shoulder, as she pushed him out the door in front of her.

When the door shut behind them the teens sat in mild shock. "Ookay," Mikey said, breaking the ice. "He was cool, but your girlfriend's kind of a bi..."

Raph glared at him and he faltered. "I already told you, not interested," he grumbled.

"Sweet," Casey said, "more for Casey Jones."

"You're such a pig," April rolled her eyes, backing away from the table. Turning to Mikey she said, "And you're not much better."

"What did I do?" Mikey asked innocently, looking to his brothers.

"You were born," Raph said, pushing back his chair too.

"Aw, come on, guys," Mikey said, watching the table empty until it was only he and Casey. "You know what I did wrong?"

He shrugged, "Your guess is as good as mine. That was one hot chick, though."

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"Ow, ow, ow! What gives!?" Brice complained as Val drug him through the woods by his ear.

"Of all the dumb, selfish, horrible things you've ever done," she grumbled without looking back at him, "that was the worst!"

"Aw, come on Val. They were cool," he said, stumbling over a root. It was almost impossible for him to float while he was in pain and walking he was a lot clumsier than she was. "That Casey guy liked you."

A fresh blush rose on her skin, and she shook her head. "You're a moron, you know that?"

"Come on, aren't you just a _little_ curious? He's a normal guy, you're a kinda normal girl. It could be good, right?"

As they got to the clearing around their cabin she spun around without loosening the grip on his ear. "No, it couldn't," she said angrily. "You don't get it, do you? We can't have people knowing about us. We're going to have to move. How could you be so selfish?!"

"In case you didn't notice," he shot back, his eyes narrowing, "I'm part of the reason we're supposed to be secret and all. And for the record, I may not know an awful lot about the world, but I'm pretty sure giant talking turtles aren't exactly the norm!"

"What's your point?" she glared at him.

"Our secret is kind of theirs too," he said. "Those guys, they're just like me and April and Casey, they're just like you."

"No one's just like me," she growled, finally letting go of his ear.

"Thank God," he muttered as she stormed towards the house.

Spinning around she added, "And 'for the record', if you go back to that house again, not only will I pound you, but I'll tell Dad."

The door slammed behind her, leaving him out in the snow. Part of him wanted to just run back there, but instead he shuffled through the snow back to the house. The living room and kitchen were empty, the boxes still sitting unopened on the table. He guessed she was up in her room. "Boring old hag," he muttered, flipping a box opened. Inside was a roll of multicolored flags that their mom had sewn together. On each triangle she'd sewn some Christmas icon: a Christmas tree, an ornament, a stocking, Santa Clause. Setting it on the table, he dug through the box some more, finding some ornaments they'd made back when they were both kids. He remembered painting the wooden blocks. His work was sloppy and lopsided, but Val's was surprisingly crisp. On one side of the block she had a picture of the four of them with their arms around each other. Under it she'd painted the word "LOVE". He couldn't help giving it a grin as he set it down. As silently as he could, he started taking out all the decorations and setting them up around the house.

Val didn't leave her room until well after midnight, when she went to the kitchen for a drink of water. As she walked into the living room her mouth fell opened. There was a tree, fully decorated, garland strung along the ceiling, stockings on the mantel, figurine's set on the coffee table, and Brice, sound asleep on the couch. Pulling the quilt down so it covered him, she leaned down and gave him a kiss in his hair. "You're the most exasperating kid brother in the world," she whispered, "but I love you."


	7. The Invitation

December 20th, 2012

Raph had set up a punching bag in the back yard when they first moved in, and that's where he was at three in the morning. It was stupid to be out in the freezing cold, he told himself, but it was better than lying awake in bed staring at the ceiling. His fist slammed into the bag, followed by his foot. Why couldn't they just stay well enough away, he thought, hitting harder. It didn't matter anyway; he hit harder. They'd be leaving as soon as they had a battle plan; she and her family would stay behind.

He spun when he heard footsteps behind him. Leo stood in the snow, holding two cups of chamomile tea. He extended one of them to Raph, who stood in mute disbelief for a moment before he grudgingly turned his back to the bag and took it, following his older brother to the porch. "Couldn't sleep?" Leo asked, as they went into the kitchen.

"What do you think?" Raph asked, plopping down at the kitchen table.

"I think you like Val," he said bluntly, watching his brother's face, which flashed disbelief for a moment.

"You're crazy," Raph grumbled, but he didn't make a move to leave.

"Whatever you say," Leo said, taking a sip of tea and setting the mug down on the table. "She seems like a sweet girl."

"Says the guy in love with a Foot assassin," Raph scoffed. "You see the way she looked at Casey, all blushy like? Even if I did like her, _which I don't_, she'd be a whole lot better off with him. Plus, _hey,_ it would distract Jones from April which would make Donnie happy. See, everybody would be happy."

"Except you," Leo said softly, searching his brother's eyes. He could see the hurt there, even if Raph wouldn't admit it.

"I'm plenty happy," Raph muttered, putting the mug down a bit too hard. The tea splashed on the white tablecloth, contradicting him.

Leo didn't even answer that, but let the silence speak for itself. For a while they sat without saying anything. The ticking of the clock was almost overwhelming.

"We probably won't even see her again," Raph said finally. "I mean, she was pretty ticked when she left."

"You want to see her again?" he asked.

Raph grumbled; he hated it when Leo tried to act like Splinter. "Nah, she's just some crazy broad that lives in the woods."

"Sure," Leo said, finishing off his mug of tea and standing up. "But, you know, if you did want to see her again, at least you know where she lives. Just a thought."

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December 21st, 2012

A fresh layer of snow had fallen the night before, and even though his feet were wider than a human's Raph kept sliding down into the snow as he trudged along uphill. Of all the dumb things he'd ever done, he grumbled to himself. After training that morning, April had cornered him in the hallway, "Hey, you know where Val and Brice live, right?"

"Um, yeah," he said, trying to sidestep her, but she stood in front of him again.

"Can you go bring this to them?" April asked, thrusting an envelope in his hand.

"What is it?" he asked, examining the paper as though it were a bomb.

"An invitation," she said, "you know, seeing as we're kind of neighbors and we haven't exactly got off on the right foot yet. I was hoping they could come for supper tonight."

"You know her dad threatened to kill me if I go back there, right?" he said, looking for a way out, as he tried to hand her the invitation back.

"But Brice said they wouldn't be back for several more days now, come on, please Raph, pretty please," she pushed the envelope back in his hands.

So he knew how he got roped into this lunacy, but still... Ugh, he could have hit himself. Standing at the edge of the forest he looked towards the house. There was no movement in it, but he could hear something from the backyard. Carefully staying in the shadows, he went around and found Brice chopping wood near a smoke house. Scanning the surroundings he called softly, "Hey kid."

The ax stopped mid-swing and Brice looked around, "Mikey?"

"Raph," the turtle corrected him, fighting back a groan. He'd never been mistaken for his baby brother before. "Are your parent's home?"

"Nah," Brice said, planting the ax in the chopping block and gliding towards the sound of Raph's voice. "You want to come in the house?"

Raph stepped out, and shook his head, shoving the envelope towards him. "April wanted to invite you guys to the house for supper, or something," he said.

"Sweet," he said, grinning from ear to ear. "Hey, you think I've got a shot with her?"

"Not a snowball's chance in hell. Sorry, kid," Raph said, clapping him on the shoulder.

Brice looked momentarily downtrodden, but instantly perked back up when he opened the note. "Be right back," he said, and in a flash turned and flew back to the house. After several minutes there was the sound of shouting from inside the house. Without even knowing why, Raph took a few steps closer, listening.

"No, absolutely not and that's final!" Val said loudly.

"Casey will be there," Brice sing-songed. It felt like someone kicked Raph in the chest, even though he didn't understand exactly why. He'd been completely right. She was probably blushing like crazy.

There was a pause. "I don't care who will be there," Val said. "We can't go. Don't you understand that? Dad's..."

"Not here!" Brice shouted back. "Come on, Val, please! I promise, I'll do all your chores for a month if you'll just go and cut loose for one night. One single night to act like a normal person, please!"

Raph could see Val pacing through the opened curtains, and he looked away, hoping she hadn't spotted him. She must have agreed, he assumed, because in a minute Brice let out a triumphant whoop.

"She said we could go, man," Brice said, flying out to meet Raph. "Come on inside. I gotta go grab some stuff and we can all go down there together. That's okay, right? I mean, if we're kinda early? No one'll mind?"

"Sure," Raph said, reluctantly following him up the back stairs and into a long hallway that led to the front of the house. All the windows were opened, letting the faint winter sunlight stream in, giving a warm look to the rustic house. Everything in the house looked either old or homemade which gave it gave it a very homey look that he felt a twang of nostalgia for the lair.

"Hey, make yourself at home. We got cider in the jug on the kitchen counter, and water's at the sink," Brice said, spinning around trying to find something. "Oh, here it is," he said holding up the Game Boy and tossing it to Raph. "There's only one game, but it's pretty fun. I'll be back in a minute." He raced out the room, leaving Raph standing between the living room and kitchen holding the game system and looking around. They had a wood-burning stove and hand pump at the sink, but also a small electric refrigerator. In the living room there was a small TV with rabbit ears and a spinning wheel.

He had just sat on the soft couch when Val came in the room. Her hair was down, and she was wearing a thin t-shirt with jeans. Her narrow feet were bare. "Hey," she said with a nod as she padded over to the kitchen and opened the doors to the pantry. "You guys like cookies?" she asked over her shoulder.

It took a second for him to register that she'd just asked him something. "Yeah, yeah, they're okay," he said. She pulled out a large pickle jar that was filled with cookies and set it on the table, then went rummaging for a platter. Setting that on the table to she started laying the cookies out on the platter without saying anything.

"What are you doing?" Raph asked watching as she put the last cookie on the platter and then tied the whole thing up in a large, clean dish cloth.

Val looked up, a faint blush tinting her cheeks. "This is what people do when they go over for supper, right?" she asked haltingly. "Bring something to eat?" She vaguely remembered her mom doing that when she was a little girl. Of course, Mom had always wrapped the dish in tin foil, she thought regretfully. She hadn't seen foil in years.

Raph shrugged, "Dunno." He had even less experience than she did with normal social graces. Watching her look at the wrapped plate as though it would speak, he quickly added, "But hey, everybody likes cookies, right?"

She smiled, and chuckled. "Everybody I know."

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A half hour later they were walking out the front door. She had snow-shoes strapped to her boots, and several heavy layers over the t-shirt. "You sure you don't want anything else to wear?" she asked, looking skeptically at Raph's hooded cape. "Dad's stuff would probably fit you."

"I'm fine," he said, watching her lock the door and slip the key over her head, tucking it into her shirt.

"Suit yourself," she said, adjusting the bow and quiver on her shoulder.

When they got to the edge of the woods, Brice called out, "Meet you guys there!" In a flash of blue he was out of sight, racing ahead of them.

Val shook her head, "It's amazing someone so fast can be so slow."

Raph snorted, "I'm pretty sure there's one of those in every family."

"Let me guess. Mikey," she grinned sideways at him.

"It that obvious?" He laughed.

"Yeah, it is," she said, looking ahead of them. They fell into silence as they walked for quite some time. "It was sweet of her, April I mean," Val said. "Inviting us and all."

He shrugged, "That's April; she's into sweet."

"Guess that's why she likes Donnie," Val said, carefully stepping over a small patch of ice.

Raph looked at the girl in bewilderment. "I think you got that wrong," he said gruffly. "Donnie's gaga for her, but she's not interested in him at all."

Val shrugged, "She looks at him a lot."

Raph froze for a second watching her walk ahead of him a couple paces before he raced to catch up. "Nah, trust me. He's not her type."

"Well, you know them better than me," she conceded.

He walked in silence. He knew Donnie better than she did, but who knew, maybe because she was a chick she knew things, he thought. The last thing they needed, though, was some crazy broad filling Donnie's head full of false hope. Because he'd trust Val as an ultimate authority on human females, Raph thought, resisting the urge to shake his head as he walked. April and her dumb ideas; they should have just left these bumpkins out in the woods.

They were walking in silence when Val stretched her hand out in front of him, stopping him. She put her finger to her lips, and pointed out to a small patch of weeds about ten yards ahead of them. They ducked behind a tree, waiting. A few moments later a red fox emerged, carrying a rabbit in its teeth. Val grinned, watching as the animal trod off with it's kill. When it faded out of sight she started walking again, wordlessly.

As they got to the edge of the woods, Raph asked, "So you like foxes?"

"I like foxes that aren't eating my chickens," she corrected with a faint hint of a smile. Her hands were visibly shaking.

"You cold?" he asked.

She considered telling him 'no,' after all she wasn't cold, not really. The alternative, though, was admitting that she was terrified about going back into the house, so she nodded.

"I'm sure it's plenty warm in there," Raph said, pushing a tree limb out of their way. He watched her walk a few paces in front of him, thinking about how little they'd said on the long hike. It wasn't uncomfortable, though. She didn't seem to be the type of person who said much, and he appreciated that. Perhaps they could be friends; after all he was friends with Casey and April. She wasn't all that much different than them. Was she?


	8. Dinner

A/N: I know, I'm taking my time with them actually expressing, or even fully admitting to themselves, that they _may_ have feelings for the other, but neither Raph or Val are overly mushy, and they've both got major trust issues that have got to be crossed and he is only the first guy Val's ever met, so please bear with me. Thanks again for reading, and all the reviews; you guys are the best. :)

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"What up, ghost ninja?" Mikey greeted her as he took the bundle of cookies, sniffing them. "Cookies! Sweet! You're officially the best!" He wrapped her in a big hug that almost threw her off balance, then let her go. She slightly staggered. "I mean that. Oh, and no hard feelings about before, right? I mean, your family; they're totally cool."

Val couldn't think of any response to this monologue and so nodded dumbly, letting April take her coat, hat, and mittens from her as she hung the bow and quiver on the hat rack. "Mikey's harmless," she whispered in Val's ear, with a small giggle. "Come on," she pulled her into the living room where Leo and Brice were sitting on the sofa playing a boxing video game.

"Hey, sis!" Brice called over his shoulder after Leo squarely defeated him. "Wanna try?"

She shook her head, and he shrugged.

"Don't like boxing?" Casey's voice came from her left side and she turned to see him grinning at her.

"I like watching it," she said. "Now and then Dad can get it on TV."

"Cool," he said, leaning against the back of the sofa. "You know, I do a little boxing myself?"

"Is that how you lost the teeth?" she asked.

April snorted, but he ignored her, "Nah, I lost these playing hockey. Took a puck to the face," he said proudly, putting his arm around her shoulders. "You ought to come watch me play some time. You know, when life goes back to normal."

Val blushed violently. "When life goes back to normal, I probably won't see you any more," she said softly.

"Nah," Casey said, "it's one day's drive to the big city. The drive'll give us time to get better acquainted."

She giggled nervously, trying to shrug him off. "Okay," April said, tugging her by the elbow. "Want to help me in the kitchen?"

"Please," Val whispered. As they exited the room, she sighed with relief.

"Casey can be overwhelming sometimes," April comforted her, as she opened the fridge and pulled out the fruit salad.

"He's definitely unique," Val said, her face still burning. She looked around the kitchen. "So what do you want me to do?"

April laughed, "I just wanted to save you from Case, but if you really want to help, you could ladle the soup in the tureen. It's in the cabinet next to the stove."

"Is he like that with everyone?" Val asked softly when April came closer.

"Not everyone. He likes you, but he's also a notorious flirt and an adrenaline junky; super bad boy, if you know what I mean. It's hard to tell where you stand with him."

Val nodded. "He's cute, though," she said with a faint smile.

"And he knows he's cute," April said, rolling her eyes. "Trust me, the charm wears off _really_ quickly."

Val said nothing for a while. She moved the soup to the table.

"Want to fill the glasses with ice?" April asked. "Don't mind Ice Cream Kitty, she's sweet."

The brunette opened the door and let out a small yelp, almost slamming it at the sight of the tentacled cat made of ice cream. Val looked back quizzically at April and they both burst out laughing. Val didn't even know why, but the whole thing was too funny. She was breaking basically every rule her parents had given her to go to a party with a girl who had considered her an imaginary friend for years, the first guy she'd ever had a crush on, and four mutant turtle ninjas. If she was going to get herself grounded, at least she was making proper work of it, she thought, tentatively patting Ice Cream Kitty on the head. Life was weird.

"What's so funny?" Brice asked, leaning against the door frame.

"Just girl stuff," Val said, trying to regain her composure. "You wouldn't understand."

"Thank God," he said, shaking his head.

"Supper's almost ready," April said. "You could call the..." But in a minute, all the guys were waiting at the doorway, "...guys. Hungry much?"

Val hadn't seen that much food on one table in years. There was roast, cream of onion soup, green beans, three kinds of pizza, fruit salad, candied sweet potatoes, and rolls. They always ate well, but not to this kind of excess. It was like Christmas had come early.

"Dig in Val; these guys are bottomless pits," Casey advised her.

"Oh, like you're not," Raph scoffed.

Val swallowed a bite of food, pointing her empty fork at her brother, "Betcha Brice is worse."

"But he's so little," Casey said in shock. "What are you, like 10, kid?"

Brice looked highly insulted, "I'll be 13 in March, man! Good things come in small packages, like dynamite and stuff."

"On what planet does dynamite count as a 'good thing'?" Val asked, with an eyebrow raised.

"Ah, you're just crabby cause you're a giant!" he laughed.

She rolled her eyes, fighting back the blush. She was taller than her mom, although not nearly as tall as her dad. In the last couple of years, Brice had taken to calling her Daddy Long Legs or Bean Pole. Normally it didn't matter. The fact she was taller than him gave her a few extra inches of grab when he felt like acting like a little jerk.

"Hey, you know what? You guys totally ought to stay over tonight!" Mikey said, grabbing another slice of pizza.

"Can we, Val?" Brice called across the table. "They won't be back till the 23rd."

Everyone was looking at her and she squirmed under their gaze. It was a long walk back home, but they didn't have anything packed to spend the night and they were already taking a huge chance just being there. Her mind flashed back a few minutes before to her and April laughing. If she was going to get in trouble anyway, she ought to stay the course. Sighing she nodded, "I suppose we could. If April and the rest of you don't mind."

"Sweet!" Mikey and Brice said in unison, slapping each other's hands over the table. "Party time!"

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She had thought that there would be too much food, but when everyone was finally full all the plates were empty. Brice jumped up and excused himself, saying he was running back home for their stuff. "But that'll take all night," April protested, "we've got stuff here."

Brice just laughed and tore out the kitchen door, disappearing into the treeline with a flash of blue. April looked back at Val in shock. "He's pretty fast," Val said with a shrug. She'd gotten used to Brice's hyperactivity over the years. He'd probably be back in a half hour with way more stuff than they actually needed. It wasn't any use trying to stop him when he got an idea in his head.

"Is it strange?" April asked as they walked out onto the porch. Leo volunteered to clean the kitchen, and so they went out to relax. "I mean, you being the only non-mutant in your family."

Val's face fell a little, "Most of the time, I don't think of it, but it can be kinda awful sometimes."

"What do you mean?" April asked, sitting on the edge of the porch, letting her legs swing off the ledge.

"Well, Brice is fast, Dad's really strong, and Mom can heal anything, but I'm just me." She leaned her head against the porch post, watching April. "It means I'm slower, weaker, and less talented than anyone else in my family. I'm the weak link."

April looked at the girl with a newfound sympathy. When her father had been turned into a mutant, he was mindless and terrifying. Had she not known the turtles, perhaps she would have thought that every mutant was like that, but this girl had grown up with mutation as the norm rather than the exception. In her family, she was the "freak."

"Raph says you're an amazing shot," April said, bumping against her arm with encouragement. "I've always wanted to learn to shoot a bow."

Val grinned. "I could teach you tomorrow morning," she offered. "It's really not that hard."

They could see a faint glow of blue against the blackness of the forest and in less than a minute Brice skidded to a stop in front of them. "Hey gorgeous," he said, winking at April, "And Val." He looked confused for a moment. "I thought this was supposed to be a party?"

April giggled, "You ought to complain to Mikey; I'm sure he'll solve that."

Brice grinned wickedly as he adjusted that overstuffed knapsack on his back and hurried off into the house. "I think Brice's found a best friend," Val said, smiling. "I just wish it wouldn't all have to go back to the way in was in a few more days."

"Hey," April said looking the other girl in the eyes, "it doesn't have to; we'll talk with your parents. We can make them see that we're on their side. Right?"

"Maybe," Val said with a shrug.

The door burst open, "Let's get this party STARTED!" Mikey called as he stuck his head out the door. From inside there was the scrapping of furniture being moved around and music started up. "We need our ladies!"

"Val counts as a lady?" Brice snorted. "Boy is the world in trouble."


	9. First Dance

Raph pushed the furniture back against the wall, while Donnie scanned through his laptop, massing an impromptu playlist of dance music. Mikey ran in the room with his arms filled with rolls of Christmas lights, and he and Leo quickly strung them up. The front door burst open as Casey and Brice walked back in, each carrying a speaker he'd planned to install in the van next week. "Think you can geek them up with the computer?" Casey asked the purple clad turtle, who rolled his eyes.

"Piece of cake," he said, rummaging through a bag of computer components and creating a make-shift adapter.

Leo stepped back from the lights after he plugged them in and elbowed Raph in the arm, "Think she'll like it?"

"How should I know what some chick'll like?" Raph grumbled. "Hey kid, think your sister'll like it?"

Brice smiled and gave him a thumbs up, "Good luck getting her to cut loose enough to dance, though."

"Leave that to the party maestro," Mikey said, putting his arm around Brice's shoulder.

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Raph couldn't help grinning when Val walked in the room and her eyes opened wide in wonder. It had taken the guys all of twenty minutes to turn the living room into a mini-club and he was pretty sure most girls wouldn't have been impressed, but she was. She put her hands over her mouth, hiding a cascade of giggles as Mikey danced his way over to them. Rather than take Val, though he grabbed April, doing a few quick moves with her. He then whispered something in the red haired girl's ear and stepped back. April pulled Val to the center of the room, "Come on, let's dance," she called over the music. Val blushed scarlet, but tried to follow April's lead. Not knowing the moves, she was kind of clumsy, and after a few minutes the girls were leaning against each other laughing hysterically.

"Hey, let's show these chicks how we roll," Raph said to Leo, featuring to the dance floor that Val and April were leaving empty. Leo gave his brother a lopsided grin. He played like he didn't care but here he was trying to impress her.

They started off with the Kid 'n Play, then broke off, dancing independently. The moves they had they'd picked up from old hip-hop tapes they'd found, but only April and Casey knew how dated they were and they weren't saying anything.

For a while, Val tried to watch both of them, but she found her eyes drifting to Raph. He spun then flipped up, doing a one handed handstand in the middle of the floor. For a second his eyes locked with Val's, but she quickly looked away, the color rising in her cheeks.

Brice and Mikey took the floor next, they mirrored each other so perfectly Val started to wonder if her kid neither hadn't been sneaking out at night to practice. Donnie came along side April and bashfully offered his hand. They went out doing the Cabbage Patch, which made Val burst into giggles again.

Casey slid next to Val. "You're not going to dance?" she asked him before he could say anything.

"I'm usually just into slow dancing," he said, leaning his head so that it was almost touching hers. "Maybe we ought to sneak away and I can show you some of my moves; get to know the awesomeness that is Casey Jones."

She smiled and looked down at her feet. She'd seen her parents slow dance, and seen it on the movies. As scary as it was to get out in front of everyone with April, the idea of dancing slowly, alone, with Casey was terrifying. "Ma...Maybe later," Val stammered, grateful that April was was gesturing her out to the dance floor as the song changed to "Tootsee Roll".

"This one's fun," April said, "just do what I do." Val followed her lead, a bit awkwardly at first, but soon she got the hang of it. Raph stood next to Leo, a goofy grin playing at the corner of his mouth. She was slightly less curvy than April, but her lean frame was well muscled and graceful whenever she overcame her shyness. As she moved the bottom of her t-shirt rode up on one side, revealing her pale, taunt abs. Raph swallowed hard.

"Oh man, you guys must be magic," Brice said as he walked up to the two older brothers, "you got my sister to act like a normal human being."

"You're welcome?" Leo said a bit confused as the younger boy floated back over to Mikey, dancing. "Guess she's pretty shy."

"Don't look shy to me," Raph said, watching as the girls joined Donnie and Casey. She barely blushed this time, as Jones put his arm around her, whispering something in her ear. She gave a little nod and the pair slipped out the front door. Raph watched as they made their way to the barn, Casey chattering away as she watched him in wonderment.

Yeah, he told himself, this is for the best. After all Casey was his best friend. He oughtta be happy for them, right? He pushed back a surge of jealousy. Hey, she was getting the better guy, his best friend was getting the girl, and even Donnie was catching a break. It was a win-win-win. So, why do I feel like a loser, he thought grimly.

Inside the barn, Casey turned the radio on in the van, flipping through the stations until he found a slow song. "See that's better," he said with a grin. Noticing her trembling he said, "Come see; I'll warm you up."

Before she could think to say or do anything his arms were around her waist, pulling her close. It felt like her heart would stop and she barely trusted her knees to keep her up. Not wanting to look stupid, she put her arms around his neck, and he rewarded her with another smile. "That's better, huh?" He asked softly, as they started to sway. Knowing she probably couldn't manage words, she nodded. "You're so pretty," he whispered.

Her mind reeled in a hundred directions. I oughta say thanks, you too, she thought, then instantly chastised herself. He's a guy, she mentally scolded, you can't tell him he's pretty! Oh good God, but he is, she thought. Her thoughts were shattered as his lips meet hers. It was like she'd been hit by lightening and the world had flipped over. Instinctively she jumped back, "Why'd you do that!?" Her mind, that had been so full a second ago now felt completely empty.

Casey looked at her in utter confusion before he chuckled, "Cause I like you, crazy girl."

"Well, I don't like you," Val blurted out, her heart railing against what her brain was saying. Brice was right, she thought miserably, she was weird. No normal girl would react that way when the guy she'd been crushing on for days kissed her. But there was nothing she could say to make it better, so she turned and walked back to the farmhouse, leaving a confused and slightly hurt Casey Jones in her wake.


	10. Conversations

A/N- WARNING: This chapter contains under age drinking. If that offends you, please don't read! Otherwise, please read and enjoy. HAPPY NEW YEAR'S and thanks for the reviews! :)

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Val felt like she was walking in a nightmare. She barely even registered the frigid wind against her bare face as she walked, her arms crossed tightly over her chest, hands tucked under her arms. Inside the party seemed to still be going on, and she didn't want to ruin it for anyone, so instead of going through the front door, she went around to the back. The kitchen was dark, but she didn't bother with the light as she sat at the kitchen table trying to collect her thoughts. She felt stupider than she had in a long time. I ought to go back, she thought, admit I was a coward and freaked out for no good reason. Maybe he'd understand. Sighing, lay her head on the table. She wasn't even sure she wanted to do that. Sure, he was cute, but his tendency to refer to himself in the third person and randomly put his arm around her was a bit unnerving. Maybe that's why, she reasoned; if it were meant to be, it would have just felt right. Right?

"You okay?" April voice came from the doorway.

Val's head shot up as she gasped. "Yeah, sorry," she said. "I just wanted a moment."

"I can leave, if you want," April said.

"Actually, could you sit a while?" the older girl asked with a shy smile.

"Sure," she said, pulling up the chair next to her. "Why are you in here? I thought you went outside with Casey."

Val nodded, not knowing exactly what to say. After a moment she started, the words tumbling out her mouth, "He kissed me, and I was such an idiot. I mean, normally when someone kisses you, you don't scream at them, do you? Ugh, what's wrong with me? And he's cute, too. And kinda sweet, in a arrogant sort of way. And now I've blown it. He probably thinks I'm a lunatic!"

April looked at her for a moment not knowing exactly what to say to the outburst, when to her surprise, Val started laughing. "It's so stupid," she said, "this is absolutely the craziest night of my life. Hands down." Sighing she looked at April, "How'd you know with Donnie?"

April shrugged, "For a long time I didn't. Then I was in denial. Then, I don't know, I just kind of _knew._"

Val groaned, "He probably thinks I'm awful."

"Nah," April said putting a reassuring hand April's shoulder, "he's got a pretty thick skin, and he's quick to forgive. But, don't play games with him. I mean it, he's totally conceited, but he's a good guy and my friend."

"I wouldn't even know how to play games," she said honestly, then quickly added, "but I won't. I promise."

April smiled at her with a nod, "Thanks. I didn't figure you were the type to just string a guy along for fun. You know what we need?"

Val looked at her questioning and April got up and went to the freezer. She gave Ice Cream Kitty a part on the head and pulled out a canister of Rocky Road Ice Cream.

"Oh wow!" Val's eyes lit up, "I haven't had ice cream in years."

April pulled out two spoons and went back to the table, setting the container between them. "Well it's way past time to fix that, isn't it?" She said, handing Val a spoon.

The chilled confection was the best thing Val had tasted in a long time, and as they ate the two girls chatted, learning more about each other and gossiping about the boys. After an hour, they went back to the living room where Leo, Donnie, Mikey, and Brice had given up dancing and were watching reruns of "Space Heroes".

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Raph had seen Val drudging through the snow and asked April to check on her before he headed out to the barn. He found Casey, sprawled over the hood of the car, with his back rested against the windshield and a beer in his hand. "Where'd ya find that?" Raph asked.

Casey pointed his thumb to the cellar door behind him. "Bottom shelf all the way to the right," he said. "There's plenty down there if you want one."

He considered if for a moment, but got a whiff of what Casey was drinking and decided against it; maybe next time.

"Whatcha doing here?" Casey asked after a moment.

"Saw Val walking out like she'd seen a ghost. Wanting to make sure she hadn't killed you or something," Raph said, picking up a wrench from Casey's tool box and pretended it was a bat.

Casey snorted, "That'd be about right, ya know. Nah, I just kissed her."

Raph's eyes went wide for a moment before he regained his composure. "Sucks, man," he said, watching Jones drain the bottle and climb off the hood.

"I'm gonna get another," he said, shaking the empty bottle. "If you want one, speak now or go get your own," he chuckled at his own joke. "They're not half-bad even if they're warm."

"Sure," Raph said, obliging him. When Casey came back, he pulled a key ring out his pocket and used the bottle opener, handing Raph a bottle of amber liquid. It wasn't exactly warm, but it wasn't ice cold either. "You sure you oughta be drinking this stuff?" Raph asked, smelling it. He didn't know what it was supposed to smell like, but if he'd found something that smelled like that in his fridge, he would have poured it down the drain.

"What're you gonna do? Tell April on me?" Casey laughed. "Look, you don't have to drink it if you don't want to, but I can hold my own, k?"

Raph nodded, and took a sip. It was bitter, but not completely awful. Copying Casey, he took a deeper swig.

"Like I said, not half-bad, right?" Casey asked.

"It's okay," Raph said with a lopsided grin.

"Man, you know what I miss most about the city?" Casey asked.

"Nope," Raph said honestly, taking another swig.

"Antonio's Pizza. Oh, and the hockey rink. This would be a good night for a pizza and a late night practice."

Raph nodded; the thing he missed most about the city was Splinter, but he was gone. There wasn't any use dwelling on what couldn't be changed. Taking another drink, he felt the liquid begin to warm his stomach. It was actually pretty pleasant after a while, even if it still tasted awful.

"We oughta be planning how we're gonna go retake our home," he said, his eyes growing serious. "Instead of goofing off out here."

"It's comin', man," Raph said, clapping him on the shoulder. "And when it does, those alien freaks aren't gonna know what hit 'em."

"Hell ya!" Casey said with a nod and drained the bottle. "Another one?"

Raph shook his head, finishing the bottle and setting it down in the short line Casey had started, "Think I'll go back; tell April you're still alive."

Casey laughed, "It'll take a lot more than one chick to take Casey Jones down."

Raph nodded. He'd be fine; hopefully not hung over in the morning, but fine.

There wasn't any music coming from the house as he climbed the steps. When he stepped in April was walking in from the kitchen with a huge bag of popcorn. "He okay?" she whispered.

He scoffed, "He's fine."

April nodded.

"How's she?" he whispered back.

"Okay now," she answered softly. "I think he just scared her."

"Didn't mean to," Raph whispered. He was sure of that. Casey was a lot of things, but he wasn't one to hurt a woman on purpose.

"I know," April said with a faint smile. "Wanna come watch? We got popcorn."

Raph shrugged, and followed behind her to watch what was probably his least favorite episode of his least favorite TV show for the hundredth time. In the faint glow of the TV, he stole glances at Val, who was sitting on the sofa next to Brice with her bare feet curled under her. She looked more relaxed, and he was relieved to see her eyes weren't red. At least he didn't make her cry, he thought.


	11. Mornings on the Farm

The next morning Val woke with a start. For a second, she didn't remember where she was, and when she remembered that they'd decided to stay with April and the guys, she still had no clue exactly _where_ she was. Outside of the bed, there was only a rag rug and a dresser in the small room. Tentatively, she slipped out of bed and padded over to the dresser. Carefully sliding open a drawer, she peeked in. Instead of clothes, though, there were weapons; drawer after drawer of weapons. Resisting the urge to rifle through them like a kid in a candy store, she carefully closed the last drawer and got ready for the day. Thankfully, Brice had been thoughtful enough to leave her things in a pile by the door. After she'd made the bed, she went out to find the others.

The farmhouse was huge, and all around her there were the sounds of people getting ready. The delicious smell of bacon, eggs, and coffee wafted up the stairs. "Good Morning, mon cherry," Mikey said, pulling out a chair for her as she walked in the kitchen.

Biting back a giggle she said, "Morning," as she sat down and watched the youngest turtle flipping pancakes.

"What'll it be?" he asked.

"Bacon, eggs, and coffee?" she said tentatively, making him laugh.

"Ya know, you've got too speeds? Full blown deadly ghost ninja and pound puppy," Mikey laughed.

"And you got one speed," a gruff voice came from behind her, "idiot." Raph dodged his brother's dishcloth as he sat down across from Val. "Sleep good?"

She nodded, "You should be nicer to the people who make your food."

"Yeah," said Mikey, shaking the spatula at him.

Raph shot him a dangerous look, and he went back to cooking.

"How'd you sleep?" she asked Raph as Mikey slid a huge plate of food in front of her. Her eyes grew wide in disbelief. There was no way she was going to be able to finish all that.

"Decent," Raph said with a shrug. He didn't tell her that after he'd carried her up to bed in his room, he'd slept the night on the recliner and his neck was killing him. It was almost worth it. She smelled faintly of roses and murmured his name in her sleep as he'd scooped her up. How she knew it was him, he'd never know. It had been Leo's idea. He'd have left her on the couch; covered her with a blanket and all, but still. It wasn't like Leo was sleeping on the living room furniture.

Donnie and April walked in at the same time, and Val wondered if they were sharing a room. He pulled the chair out for her then went to the stove and fixed them each a plate. "Liked Raph's bed?" April asked.

Val choked on a piece of pancake. Her gaze flew up at him, and he looked quizzically at her. Taking a quick sip of coffee, she said, "It was comfy. You didn't have to do that. You know? I could have slept on the couch."

Raph seriously considered asking her to tell that to Leo, but instead muttered, "It wasn't nothing."

Casey walked in after everyone else. He looked slightly sleepy, but other than that spurred to be cheerful. "G'morning guys, Red, Val," he said with a smile as he poured himself a large mug of coffee. Val managed to smile at him even though she looked away quickly. The butterflies in her stomach seemed to be more from the embarrassment of how she'd acted the night before than that she liked him.

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After everyone had eaten breakfast, they started gathering their weapons to go out and spar. Val looked skeptically at her bow and arrows. "You guys don't actually expect me to shoot at you, do you?" she asked April.

April scrunched up her nose as she thought. Archery didn't really lend itself to sparring. "We could always spar without weapons," April said, "or you could borrow something from the guys. What are you used to fighting with?"

"Dad taught me to fight with knives," Val said, marveling at April's tessen. She'd never seen a weapon so beautiful.

"Hey, Raph, you've got a bunch of extra knives, right?" April called over her shoulder.

"There's no such thing as extra knives," he corrected her.

"Okay," April said slowly, "do you have any that Val could borrow to spar with."

He considered her for a minute and then asked, "What kind of knives you want?"

"I know how to fight with karambits, daggers, switchblades, bayonets, machetes... throwing knives," she paused, realized the list would just keep going. "If it's got a blade on it, I can probably figure it out," she said finally.

Over her shoulder Brice shook his head and called, "Don't give her the throwing knives. Trust me. You _don't_ want her throwing things at you."

"I'll see what I can find," Raph said.

A few minutes later he walked downstairs carrying a small leather bundle. He unrolled it on the table, revealing a wide belt with a wide assortment of knives in it. "It's way too big for you to wear," he said, "but you can use whatever you want."

Val looked over the selection for a moment. She pulled several out, testing their weight and balance in her hand before she settled on a large tactical knife. She rolled it in her palm so that she went from a normal to a backhanded grip. "This'll work," she said, then grabbed a handful of throwing knives. "These too," she added with a grin, ignoring her brothers protests. She rolled the knives back up again. "Thanks."

"Welcome," Raph said, taking the package from her. His fingers grazed against hers sending shivers up his spine. "You need something, kid?" he asked Brice, but he waved it off.

"I've got some tricks up my sleeves," the pre-teen said with a wink.

"Yeah, and you really don't want to give Brice anything sharp," Val stage whispered to April and Raph.

Brice stuck his tongue out at her as they made their way out into the snowy yard. Leo surveyed the group. "Okay, we'll break up like this: Mikey you'll spar with Brice; Casey, go with Donnie; April, you and Val; I'll go up against Raph. Sound good?" Everybody nodded as they paired off. Val had sparred plenty of times against her dad, and occasionally he'd entertain Brice. She had no idea what to expect from April and her metal fan, though. The red-head held it up like she was a lady in the old south, discreetly hiding her mouth. Val crouched into a fighting stance, adjusting her grip on the knife until it felt natural. They circled each other for a few moment before April charged at her. Val sidestepped and crouched under the tessen as it wizzed overhead. She stood and looked at April with a raised eyebrow, "Well, that was kinda close." The other girl laughed and they lunged at each other again, the metal of the knife and tessen rang out as they clashed. Val leaned down as she rolled out of an attack, grabbing a handful of snow, she tossed it up at April's face and then lunged, knocking the other girl to the ground, the knife held to her throat.

Val hopped up, offering her friend a hand, "Good fight."

"You too," April said, dusting herself off. They went to the sidelines, watching the guys finish off their fights.

Val pulled the throwing knives out her back pocket, spinning one of them on her finger as she watched the boys fight. Mikey seemed to have recovered from his initial shock that Brice was able to throw energy projections. Their parents had hypothesized that it was the same thing that allowed him to float. She grinned as she remembered Mikey shouting, "Whoa! What the shell was that?!"

They ended with Val, Mikey, Donnie, and Raph as the champions of that round. "Okay," Leo said, want to go again? We'll do Val vs. Mikey, and Donnie vs. Raph."

Raph gave a wicked chuckle as he looked at his younger brother, "You could always just give up now."

Donnie shook his head, leaning down to give April a quick peck on the cheek. "Today kind of feels like my day."

They broke off and Val faced Mikey. "You know, I'd go easy on you, cause you're a girl and all," Mikey said, "but my buddy Brice tells me you fight dirty."

"Who knew he was such a smart kid?" Val said with a smirk.

Mikey was a lot more of a challenge than April had been, but finally when he attacked her she was able to jump over his head, wrapping her arm around his neck and squeezing hard in a chokehold. She pushed her boots against his shell, giving herself extra leverage until they both fell backwards in the snow. Her eyes danced as the wind was knocked out of her lungs but she didn't let go. Mikey rolled over, tapping. "Break," Leo called, and Val finally loosened her grip.

"Wow," Mikey gasped, rubbing his neck, "he wasn't lying."

Val rubbed her ribs, which felt bruised. "You're one to talk, you nearly crushed me."

"Cause I couldn't breathe," Mikey said, laughing as he gently pushed her shoulder. "Good fight, though."

"You too, Mike," she said with a smile.

They turned just in time to see Raph standing over Donnie with both sais pointed at his neck. "Looks like you're up against the grump master," Mikey said. Then he whispered in her ear, "Whatever you do, don't surrender. It'll just make it worse."


	12. Defeat

"I never give up," Val said to Mikey with a wink and one last spin of the throwing knife before she pocketed it.

Raph was standing in the middle of the yard, a smirk on his face. "Don't really feel right," he teased, "beatin' a little girl."

Val scoffed, "Who're you calling little, shorty?" She crouched into a fighting stance; her eyes glistening with adrenaline.

"Oh snap!" Mikey said just before Val lunged at Raph. She immediately realized she'd made a mistake. She should have played defense a while. He hooked her wrist with a sai and spun it behind her back, causing her to drop the knife. She elbowed him as hard as she could with her other arm, but found that his plastron was a lot harder than a human abdomen. Cursing under her breath she tossed her head back, cracking him in the face. The sudden flash of pain made him loosen his grip enough that she could jump away. He looked at her with shock as he wiped the blood off his lip. She pulled two throwing knives out her pocket as he rushed her. They weren't really made for hand to hand combat, but they were better than nothing. She had to cross them over her head to block one of his sai. Suddenly there was no ground under her feet, and she realized, right before landing in the snow that he'd swept them out from under her. He dropped with her, one hand pinning both of hers over her head, the other holding a sai to her jugular. His face was three inches from her's and a drop of his blood dripped onto her lips. To his shock, she licked it off, smirking at him. "You may have won," she said, " but I drew blood."

With a gruff laugh he stood up, pulling her to her feet. His hand lingered on hers for a moment before she pulled away, walking to the treeline and gathering a handful of clean snow. Walking back up to Raph she commanded, "Stay still," as she put the snow to his lip, and took his huge hand in hers, getting him to hold it in place. "It'll stop the bleeding. That was a good fight, by the way."

He nodded to her, no quite trusting himself to answer that. He watched as she walked over to April. They set up old cans on a fence post and Val showed the red head how to use a bow.

Everyone else drifted off to stay their day, but Leo walked alongside Raph. "You could've let her win."

Raph rolled his eyes, "She'd of known." He watched as she stood behind April lining up a shot for her. "She's a crazy one. You know that."

"If she wasn't, she'd probably bore you. Think about it," Leo said as he slapped his brother on the shell and walked away.

They stayed until 11, when Val insisted they had to go back home. She was shocked to find she was almost as disappointed as Brice sounded. Everyone walked them to the edge of the woods. April surprised her by throwing her arms around Val's neck. "Thanks for having us over," Val said as she let go.

"Any time you guys want to, you're more than welcome," April said.

"I'm not sure if we'll be able to come back," Val said, working to keep her voice stoic, "but we'll try."

The walk home was unusually quiet. Brice trudged alongside her, shouldering the bag with his shoulders hunched. She cast sideways glances at him now and then. It tickled her off. He ought to be happy, darn it, she thought. He'd had a great time, got her to break about a dozen rules in a handful of days, and made some friends. She kicked a pinecone ahead of them, watching as it ricocheted off a nearby tree. "If you're gonna mope all day," she said finally, "that'll be the last time I take you anywhere."

Knowing she wasn't bluffing, he grinned at her, "That was pretty cool, though, wasn't it?"

"The coolest," Val agreed, smiling to herself. It'd been wild and slightly insane but also more fun than she'd ever had before.

The woods were silent as they made their way to the house. Val looked around. Something was off. At the edge of the clearing near their house she froze; their parents were standing on the front porch. She swallowed hard, barely able to meet her father's glaring gaze.

She swallowed, her muscles tensing. Beside her, Brice trembled as their father stalked across the yard, but she faced him with the attitude of a cadet in front of their drill instructor. He looked between them, sniffing the air. He'd seldom looked less human to Val than he did in that moment. "You've been at that farm," he growled.

"D...dad," Brice started.

"It was my fault," Val interrupted him without making eye contact with her father. "I was curious and I convinced Brice to come along. I'm sorry I disobeyed you. I didn't think you would be home so soon."

He gripped her shoulders forcing her to look in his eyes. When she did she felt herself shiver involuntarily. "So it would have been ok if you wouldn't have got caught?" He asked in a low, dangerous voice.

She shook her head, realizing her mistake. "It was a really stupid decision and you're right to punish me however you want, but it wasn't Brice's fault. I was in charge, I broke the promise."

Turning to Brice he said, "Go put that bag up, and stay in your room. I'll deal with you later."

Val gave him what she hoped was a reassuring nod as he walked off.

"I'm punishing him because I know you too well to think going that was your idea," her father said, his voice still harsh, "and I'm punishing you because you lied to my face."

Her shoulders fell by the minutest fraction of an inch, and he knew he'd made the right call. Val was a lot of things, but reckless about their family's safety, she was not. Usually. And now, of ask times, he thought.

They hadn't gone nearly as far as they'd planned when they came across the first refugee camp. Even hiding in the shadows they'd been able to learn about the Kraang invasion of New York City. They'd managed to find or steal almost everything they needed from the next small town before they doubled back as quickly as they could.

He hadn't figured out yet exactly what to do. His first thought had been to pack them all up and head into the Canadian wilds. Maybe the Kraang were only interested in large cities, like New York, he thought. If they could just get away long enough, long enough for the kids to grow old, that would be okay; not great, but better than nothing.

Without a solid plan, and in light of the kids' new rebellious streak, he decided to stay put through Christmas. Walking to the shed, he pulled out an ax and shouldered it. Handing it to Val, he gestured to a stretch of woods far from the house. "Drop ten trees," he said. "I want firewood." She didn't protest. As he walked back to the house, though, she looked at the woods, fighting back a groan. This was going to be a long, long day.


	13. Crashing

9:00- December 23rd, 2012

"Come on, Donnie, I know it's around here somewhere," April called down the ladder in the barn. "You could at least help me look."

Donnie looked at the underside of the hayloft hesitantly. "I really don't think you ought to be up there, April," he said. Some of the boards looked like they'd been badly damaged by termites. "It's not safe."

"Oh, stop being such a baby," she said with a laugh. "This barn's been here since my great-grandpa built this farm. I used to play up here all the time when I was a little girl. It's totally safe." It was only two days before Christmas, and seeing the lights up in the living room two nights before made her realize she wanted to decorate. She knew there was a trunk of old decorations up there somewhere. The loft was filled, not with hay, but with old farm equipment, boxes of clothes several decades out of date, and other oddities. What she was looking for, though, was a wooden trunk, painted green with brass fixtures. She remembered every Christmas, her mom and dad would send it down the hay elevator and then haul it to the house. It has to be around here somewhere, she said, carefully picking through the cobweb covered artifacts.

"If you're not going to come up here," she teased, "I'll just have to ask Casey."

"Har, har," Donnie said, watching as the boards slightly bowed under April's light footsteps. "I'm serious, get back down here. Some of these boards look like they're..." There was a huge crash as one of the aforementioned boards gave way and it seemed the whole loft crashed down. "April!" he screamed, waving off the dust and beginning to search for her.

Towards the back, where the rumble was thickest, he heard a weak cry. April was laying on top of the debris, breathing quickly, her eyes wide. "Donnie," she said weakly as he crouched besides her, "Donnie, I can't feel anything."

Raph and Casey ran in, not sure what had happened. The lab and car, which were at the other end of the barn, were untouched, but it looked like the opposite end had collapsed. "Anybody here?" Casey called.

"We're back here!" Donnie called over his shoulder. As they approached, Casey bent down next to her to pick her up, but Donnie grabbed his arm, stopping him, "We don't know what's wrong yet. Moving her now could do more harm than good."

"More harm than good?!" Casey shouted. "She's lying in a heap of junk and probably broke something..."

"Like her _neck,_" Donnie growled, "now BACK OFF!"

"She needs to be at a hospital," Casey said.

"Val's mom," April said weakly. It was a strange sensation. Her head hurt, but she couldn't feel anything else. "She said she could heal anything."

Donnie looked back at Raph; without saying anything he knew what he had to do. It was a long shot that they'd even be back yet, but he had to try. "Hey, where're you goin'?" Casey called after him.

"I'll be right back," Raph shouted as he ran out, "don't move her!"

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9: 20 am- December 23rd, 2012

Every muscle in Val's body hurt. Her dad had finally told her she could go in at 8:00 the night before, after she'd eaten lunch and dinner in the snow, and he'd brought her a lantern hours at sunset. She'd gotten four trees downed and chopped so far. There was a huge stack of brush in the middle of the new clearing next to an ever growing stack of firewood. Through the kitchen window, she saw Brice sitting at the table with a pile of weapons in front of him. He was cleaning and sharpening them, as needed. In some ways, she was jealous; that wouldn't have been so bad for her, sitting in a warm house going over their weapons. For Brice, though, she knew it was like torture. He hated sitting still for hours on end, and unlike her punishment, which would end as soon as all the trees were processed, his would continue for two weeks. Two solid weeks of being trapped in the house without TV or Game Boy, doing menial jobs that bored him out his mind. The ax fell again with a dull thud as she paused to wipe the sweat off her brow. Even in the freezing cold, it was possible to work up a sweat chopping wood.

She saw something out the corner of her eye as she turned back to her work. Raphael was running through the woods. He halted at the edge of the clearing in front of the house. "Mrs. Collins!" he shouted. Val planted the ax in the tree and ran to him as her parents rushed out on the porch.

Her father's eyes were murder as he growled, "I warned you never to come here again!"

Raph stood his ground, unflinching, "My friend, April, she's hurt real bad. Val said her mom could heal anything."

From behind her husband, Lydia Collins stepped forward. She was a tall, thin woman. Even after the mutation, she'd retained the high cheekbones and lithe figure she'd had as a human. Her skin was brown like rich earth, laced with curled green veins. Her hair was thin vines that cascaded down her back. She looked between Raphael and her daughter, who was horror struck as she turned and walked back into the house.

"Mom!" Val called after her, but in a moment her mother reemerged with Brice at her side.

She pulled on a jacket as she asked, "What happened?"

"She fell through the hayloft in the barn," Raph said, "my brother thinks she broke her neck."

Val gasped, but her mother just nodded as she turned to Brice, "You run ahead as fast as you can; tell them not to move her, not to touch her at all if they can help it. I'll be there as soon as we can."

In a flash he was off. Val went to the house and pulled her bow and arrow off the hook near the door.

"You stay here," her dad said firmly. "We'll send word when we know something." He dropped on all fours as her mother climbed on his back and he tore off into the woods following their son. For a moment Val just stood on the porch in mild shock. Of course it made sense. Brice had to relay instructions that couldn't wait, her father was strong enough to carry her mother, and her mother was the one who would save April. She would have only been dead weight.

Biting her bottom lip with frustration at her own weakness she turned and put the weapons back in the house. Walking down the front steps, she found Raph was still there, watching her. "What do you want?" Val said, her voice venomous.

"You okay?" he asked, following far behind her as she went back to the wood she was chopping.

"I'll be better when I find out April's okay," she said, accentuating the end with the swing of the ax.

He took that as his cue to leave. He turned back for a moment before he started running back to the farm. Her back was to him, but he could hear her cursing under her breath as she brought the ax down again and again. He understood her frustration. Her friend was hurt and she was stuck behind, but there wasn't anything he could tell her that would make that okay; not now anyway. As he ran down the path they'd already dug through the snow, he tried to push the hurt, angry look of her eyes out of his mind.


	14. Healing

Lydia trembled as they stopped by the side of the barn. "You don't have to do this," her husband said softly, taking her delicate hand into his larger one.

"She's just a girl," Lydia said, steeling her nerves. It had been 12 years since anyone outside her family had seen her, and she remembered the look of revulsion on Jennifer's face all too well. Of course, these people were mutants too. After all, the boy who'd gone to their house, he'd been transformed into a huge turtle, and she was there to help their friend.

"Mom, Dad," Brice said, as he hurried out the barn with Mikey. "She's back here." He took his mother's free hand and pulled her into the barn before she had any time to think more about it. Everyone's eyes were on her as she walked in and she clutched her son and husband's hands a bit tighter. The only two normal humans in the room were a tall, black haired boy, wearing paint splattered clothes, and the red haired girl, who was sprawled on top of a pile of rubble.

Carefully she picked her way over the debris, kneeling by April's side. "April?" she said softly. "I'm Lydia Collins; Val's mom. I'm not going to hurt you."

April managed a weak smile at her, through the pain and terror that she may never be able to feel most of her body again. "Thank you," she said softly.

Lydia smiled at her, then placed her hands on the girl's forehead and her chest. "Her neck's broken," she said, almost to herself. "That's easy enough to fix. The nerves going to her brain..." Lydia's face suddenly looked concerned.

"What's wrong?" Donnie asked anxiously, leaning in.

"It's just, I've never seen anyone with quite this many neural connections. It's almost like she's..." Lydia's voice trailed off as she tried to make sense of it.

"She's a mutant," Donnie said softly. "I know she doesn't look it, but that's probably why."

Lydia nodded. She understood that; her own son would have looked perfectly normal if it weren't for his eyes and hair. That was the way it was with this girl. As she worked at reconnecting this broken connections within her, she couldn't help but feel the concern of all those around her. These were just a bunch of scared kids, she thought. They weren't a threat to her family.

Just as she was finishing, Raph made it to the door of the barn. Lydia squeezed April's hand, "Do you feel that?"

April nodded, a tear spilling out the corner of her eye.

Lydia smiled, "Can you move your feet?"

April wiggled her feet, then lifted her legs slightly off the ground. "Thank you," she said, carefully sitting up. Her body was slightly sore, but other than that, there wasn't anything wrong with her. She threw her arms around the woman's neck. "Val was right; you're absolutely amazing!"

If she would have still been capable of it, Lydia Collins would have blushed. She smiled up at her husband, who nodded at her with a faint grin. April introduced them to everyone in the barn, and there was so much talking that no one noticed Raph slip back out the barn and run back toward the cabin in the woods.

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She didn't even hear him as he approached. Her arms ached, but it was nothing compared to the hollow feeling in her chest. Try as she might to push the thoughts out her mind they kept creeping back in. None of them ever told her, but they didn't have to; she knew she was useless. She slammed the ax through the wood. Her eyes stung.

"Val?" Raph's voice came from behind her as two pieces of wood flew apart from each other.

She didn't turn, ashamed that she'd come so close to crying. "How's April?" she asked, putting another log up.

"Right was rain," Raph said, borrowing the corny phrase she had used the second time they met.

She nodded, "That's good."

"How're you?" he asked, taking a step closer to her.

She didn't answer, driving the ax down again. Picking up the pieces, she threw them near the stack of firewood and grabbed another log. His hand, though, enveloped hers and he turned her around. She glared at him, but the anger wasn't enough to hide the red that had crept in her eyes.

"Let go of me!" she growled, tugging her hand away from him.

"I get it, you know," he said as she turned around again. "You were worried about her and there was nothing you could do to help."

She didn't say anything but started chopping again.

"It's hard being different from everybody else," he said, his voice was a low rumble.

Val spun around, "How would you know anything about it?! Your family; they're _all_ just like you! You're not not some useless weakling! You've got friends and a_ life_ waiting for you back in the city! Why don't you just leave now!? It's what's going to happen in the end anyway!"

Any other time he would have had some witty comeback; some quick retort. His life was so far from perfect it was almost laughable, he thought. In that moment, though, watching her fight back angry tears and quiver with rage that had never been expressed before, he could only think of one thing to do. He pulled her against him, wrapping his arms around her. She fought against him for a few moments then seemed to melt into him, her face buried into his shoulder, her fingers curled around the edge of his shell as though he were a life raft. Two hot tears fell onto his shoulder.

"Hey," he said pulling away from her gently so that he could put his hand under her chin. He looked at her, his face serious. "_You_," he said, "are absolutely not useless. And if I hear you say that again, I'm gonna take desperate action."

"Like what?" she scoffed, brushing her eyes clear.

"Eh, like this," he said, tickling her.

She almost doubled over in the snow. "Quit it! I'm ticklish!" she cried between peals of laughter.

"I see that," he said not letting up.

She grabbed a handful of snow and put it behind his neck, causing him to jump and swipe it away. She ran a few feet away.

"Oh, you're asking for it now," he said, gathering up a snowball.

She laughed as she formed one of her own, "That's what you think!

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At her request, he left before her family came back, both of them smiling like idiots as they waved goodbye.

Brice was the first one home. "Guess who's coming for Christmas?" he asked with a grin.

"Santa Claus?" Val asked sarcastically.

"Better. April and the guys," he said beaming with pride to be the one to bear such good news.

Val's eyebrows shot up, "Did Dad get a concussion or something on the way down?"

"It was Mom's idea," he said, "and you know what Mom wants Dad always approves of eventually."

"Sweet," Val said with a grin as she went back to chopping. "You'd better get back inside, though, or you'll spoil everything."

"Yeah," he groaned, "why should I when we've got you?"

"I heard that!" she said to his back.

He just waved at her and kept walking.

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That night, Raph lay awake in his bed. Nothing he'd ever experienced or imagined had prepared him for the craziness that was Val Collins. He hated to admit it, but he felt a little like Donnie. Groaning he stuffed his pillow further under his head, going over all the reasons he'd cited to his love-sick younger brother.

She was a normal, human girl. (Actually, Val was even more human than April, though she was, in his opinion at least, a whole heck of a lot less normal.)

He was a giant talking turtle, a freak. (Her dad was a murderous giant dog, her mom was some kind of magical plant, and her baby brother was a glowing, human version of Mikey. She was used to weird; even Mikey-esque weird.)

It would never work. He waited. There was no response to that. It probably wouldn't; then what? Scowling at the ceiling he softly asked, "Yeah, then what?" It reminded him of her words that morning. What had she said exactly? "Why don't you just leave now!? It's what's going to happen in the end anyway!" Yeah, that was it. She was afraid of it too. Afraid? He shook his head. It was bad enough he was scared of roaches; he'd never live it down if he developed a phobia of pretty girls, too.

Rolling over he caught a faint hint of roses. It was like she was in his arms again, her delicate fingers clinging to him. Perfect.

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A/N- So I've been listening to "Take Me To Church" while writing this one. Blame it on the music; I wanted them to get a little closer. :)


	15. First Kiss

Val woke on Christmas morning feeling completely comfortable for the first time in two days. Stretching under the warmth of her quilts she stared out at the rising sun. The afternoon before, just as the sun was setting, her mom had called her in the house. "That's enough for today," she said gently, putting her hands on her daughter's shoulders. All the fatigue and ache seemed to melt off of her sore muscles. She grinned at her mother, "Thanks," she said, pecking her on the cheek.

"Dad agrees that both of you deserve at least one day off, and I know you won't want to be worn out for our guests tomorrow," Her mom said, pulling her into a hug. "Your friends are nice people."

Val nodded, "Thanks for inviting them. Has Dad come around yet?"

Lydia rolled her eyes, "You know him; he's still grumbling, but he'll be fine."

Tentatively climbing out of the warmth of her covers, Val shivered in the cold air of the loft. She hoped he'd be fine. It was Christmas after all. Everybody ought to get along on Christmas; even if they were only pretending. She looked at the small stack of presents on top her dresser. Six more had been added yesterday evening, although she wished she would have had more time to plan it. April was the easiest to find something for, and Casey the hardest. What exactly do you give the first guy who ever kissed you, but who you rejected, Val mused. She finally settled on an old baseball her dad had given her years ago. He'd found it at a dump, and kept it because it had been signed by the 2002 Mets. Not a great year, but still.

Mom was already in the kitchen cooking lunch, Dad was doing chores outside, and Brice was sleeping. After she dressed, she went to the kitchen. "Merry Christmas," she said, kissing her mom on the cheek.

"Merry Christmas, baby," she answered with a smile. "Check the menu on the table and see if you think that'll be enough."

Val grabbed herself a bowl of oatmeal from the back burner, poured a cup of coffee, and sat at the table. She slid the notepad to her, going over the long list: Roast duck, stuffed venison, chicken corn cowder, spiced green beans, grilled carrots, candied apples, bread pudding, gingerbread cookies, and cherry pie. "Looks like it," Val said with a laugh.

"Well, that's a lot of teenage boys," Lydia said as she washed the carrots. "How've you been handling that?"

"What's that?" Val said, looking up from her breakfast in bewilderment.

Lydia laughed, "Boys. You know, ones who aren't your brother." She sighed, putting the carrots down on the cutting board. "Please tell me you have noticed that there are actually boys your age in that bunch."

"Casey's the only one that's actually my age," Val said with a shrug as she took another bite of oatmeal, watching her father walk from the barn to the chicken coop. "All the others are younger than me."

"Casey's kind of cute," Lydia teased.

"He's okay, I guess."

"You know Dad's a year younger than me," Lydia said with a smirk.

"Uh huh," Val mumbled, wishing there was something else her mother was interested in talking about.

"Leo seems really sweet," Lydia sing-songed almost to herself.

"Ugh, Mom!" Val groaned. "Yes, Leo's great, but he's kinda got a girlfriend back home, and really, he's not my type."

"You've got a type?" her mom giggled. "When did that happen?"

"I read Mom," Val said flatly. "I may be kinda clueless, but I know what I like. So no Casey, no Leo. Can we please talk about something else?"

"Mikey?"

"Gah!" Val stood up and finished her oatmeal quickly, put her bowl in the sink and rushed to the door.

"What's wrong with Val?" Brice mumbled as he stumbled into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes.

Lydia didn't say anything, though, besides laughing and shaking her head as she chopped the carrots. A change had come over her daughter in the days since they returned. It was so subtle that another person may have missed it, but she didn't. Val had always been almost like another son, but now she was smiling to herself now and then, doing quick checks as she passed the mirror, and blushing faintly when Brice mentioned their company's upcoming visit. It was like after waiting almost 17 years for one to emerge, she finally had a daughter. Now, to work on girl talk.

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Val was taking refuge outside helping her father with the chores when her friends emerged from the woods with their hands full of packages. "Merry Christmas!" April called out, hurrying through the snow to give her a hug. To Gerald's surprise, the small, red-haired girl throw her arms around his waist and hugged him as well.

"Merry Christmas," he said, patting her on the back."Val, let's help them get these into the house." He took about half of her packages and walked ahead of them. Val could tell he still wasn't thrilled about her mom's idea, but at least he was playing along.

"Yo, Mrs. C!" Mikey said as he hurried into the kitchen. "Look what I got," holding a bough of mistletoe above her head he pecked her on the cheek.

She laughed, shaking her head as he and Brice rushed off to find a dangerous place to hang it. "It doesn't count for dudes, right?" she heard Brice ask as he looked around.

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By the time lunch was over, even Gerald was talking like they were at complete ease, although he did watch the boys' interactions with his daughter with scrutiny. They all gathered in the living room, exchanging the simple gifts they'd managed to make or find for each other. April gave Val a set of earrings that had been her grandmother's. She'd found them in the attic in the farmhouse some months ago. They were small gold hoops, very plain, but to Val, who had spent 12 years wearing the same silver studs, they were absolutely beautiful. She felt a little bad that the only thing she had to give her was a jar of the rose balm she and her mother made every spring, but April had raved over it the night she'd spent at the farmhouse and seemed completely tickled to have some of her own.

As the sun went down they made their way out to the backyard where Gerald and Val had set up a bonfire pile in the morning. "It's a family tradition," Val said handing April and the guys a sheet of paper. "On one side, you write the thing you're most grateful for. On the other, you put the thing you want most. Then you put them in the pile before you start the fire." They passed the pen around until everyone had finished, then Gerald started up fire.

Raph was standing with Casey and Donnie. His best friend and brother were chatting about something he'd lost track of several minutes back. Val was sitting with April, her back to him, and for a moment he hesitated as he started in their direction. Darn it, don't be Donnie, he mentally chastised himself. Tapping Val on the shoulder he gestured to the woods, "Can we talk a minute?"

"What's up?" she asked as he stopped a little bit away from the rest of the group.

"I just, uh, wanted to tell you thanks for the comics, and..." He dug a small package out of the pocket of his belt and handed it to her, "here."

She smiled shyly at him as she peeled back the newsprint wrapping. Inside was a small pocket knife with a fox carved into the handle. "It's not much," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Found it when I was a kid, maybe five or six, way before Master Splinter started letting us use blades. It's been too small for me for years, but it's kinda a good luck charm. Anyway, I figured it'd fit your hands just right, and it's got a fox and all. So..." He realized he was rambling and froze.

She ran her her finger over the intricate little carving, flicked it open, grinned, then shut it back again.

"Anyway," he said, feeling completely stupid for having wanted to present it to her separately, "Merry Christmas and all."

As he turned to walk back to the crowd she grabbed his hand, lacing her fingers with his larger ones, leaned in and kissed his cheek. "I love it," she said, blushing violently, "it's perfect."

His brain exploded with a million different voices. The main ones were saying things like, "Don't pull a Donnie," "Just kiss her already," and "If her dad attacks me, there's no way to come out of that fight looking good."

She just grinned at his completely dumbfounded expression as she let his callused hand fall to his side and she walked back to meet her giggling friend. Now he, he was her type, she thought, running her fingertips over the knife in her pocket.


	16. Things Overheard

A/N- Thanks so much to everyone who has favorited, followed and/or reviewed this story; you guys are the best! I have a huge mural project coming up in the next two weeks, so updates may be a little slower. (Fingers crossed that they won't.) Anyway, thanks again, and much love!

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"You actually made Raph blush," April whispered, stealing a glance over Val's shoulder as the aforementioned turtle swaggered back to Donnie and Casey. "I didn't even think that was possible."

"Is that a good thing?" Val asked, taking a quick peek behind her.

April nodded, "If you like him, yeah, that's a really good thing."

"So, gorgeous," Brice said, sliding onto the bench next to April. "What'd you wish for?"

"Aw, man, she can't tell you that," Mikey said, leaning on Val's shoulders. "It's like bad juju to tell your wishes. Right Val?"

"I don't know. I've wished for the same thing for the last 10 or so years, haven't told anybody, and it still hasn't happened?"

"Lemme guess," Brice said, "you wished you could be as amazing as your baby brother?"

"Nope. It did have something to do with you, though. Hmmm, let's see. Oh, that's right. I wished you'd disappear."

"Ouch," Mikey said. "You can't go wishin' away my new best bro. But hey, now you said it; he's here to stay. Sweet!"

"You two wanted something?" Val asked coldly.

"Yeah, Dad wanted to talk with you. Something about you kissing on Raph," Brice said with a smirk.

Val's face fell, and it felt as if every muscle in her body had turned to ice. Even her heart felt like it froze over.

"Oh my God," Brice said, doubling over with laughter. "That was too good! Nah, I don't think he saw. Your face, though, that was priceless!"

"You little troll!" Val growled, lunging for him, but he jumped back, giving the girls a little two fingered salute as he and Mikey made their way towards the rest of the guys. "You have no idea how lucky you are, not having a little brother," she told April.

"Eh, I've got Mikey," April chuckled. "Do you think your dad would really be angry?"

Val thought about that for a moment. She couldn't imagine him being overly thrilled about the idea, but maybe she wasn't giving him enough credit. He always said he wanted her happy, right?

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It was almost midnight when everyone finally started getting ready to leave. As everyone was distracted, saying their goodbyes and gathering up their presents, Raph pulled Val aside. "Meet me at your barn tomorrow night at 11," he whispered.

"Okay," Val said slowly with skeptical amusement. "Why?"

"I just wanna talk," he said quickly. "Be there?"

She nodded and he gave her a lopsided grin, "Thanks, babe," he said, leaning over and giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. He walked away to join his family feeling a surge of familiar confidence. This ain't so hard once you get used to it, he thought, don't see why that brainiac panics all the time.

As the band of teenagers was walking down the steps, Gerald came alongside his daughter and whispered, "I think you and I ought to have a little talk about your new boyfriend. Don't you think?"

Raph almost tripped over his own feet. He was sure the man hadn't intended him to hear that, but years of ninjutsu training had sharpened his hearing. He kept his pace regular, following his brothers until they were deep in the woods then he hung back. "You guys go on home, I'll be back in a few," he said.

"Dude, you've got it bad," Casey said, shaking his head with a chuckle, but waving his friend off. "Good luck with that."

He crept around the house in silence. Finding them in the kitchen, he huddled against the wall, listening. Inside he was conflicted, it was kind of stupid to eavesdrop, there wasn't a whole lot he could do if she did get in trouble and it was pretty lame to be listening just to see what she actually thought of him, but none of the reasoning made him want to budge from that spot.

"I understand, Dad," Val said, "but it's not really _that_ serious."

"I just think you deserve better," Gerald's voice was grave.

"Better than what? He's a great guy." Raph grinned to himself, thinking, yeah, I am pretty cool.

"He's a hot headed punk," Gerald said, remembering his observations of their house the morning before he and Lydia left.

"And you know that how? You barely said three words to him, you spent all night talking with Leo," Val argued.

"Look, I know teenage boys; I was a teenage boy, and trust me, this one's trouble."

Val groaned, "You'd probably prefer me with someone all geeky like Don, or blah like Leo." Raph bit back a chuckle.

"Actually, I'd really prefer you to wait until you could meet someone normal," he said.

There was a pause, then Val choked, "Normal? Normal how? You mean like you and mom and Brice? Gee, I think I've done a pretty bang-up job of finding what's considered "normal" around here!"

"You really want that?" Gerald growled. "You wanna be with someone you're gonna have to hide from the rest of the world? In a year you're going to be an adult. You could leave, move into a town somewhere, meet people and fall in love with a human bei..."

"Quit it!" she shouted. "God, your such a bigot! And the worse part is he and his brothers are just like you and mom! They were just normal guys!" Raph felt his heart drop; well, that was something that he hadn't thought he'd have to explain to her. "And April told me Donnie's got retro-mutagen figured out. All they need is more supplies to work with and BAM all of you will be back to normal!"

Raph turned and silently walked back into the woods. "Normal," yeah, that would be great. Turn back to a normal pet shop turtle. She could even keep him in a little glass dish with a plastic palm tree. "Damn it!" he muttered. "How could I be so stupid!?" Of course the only reason she'd ever be interested in him was if he was actually a human being, he thought angrily. He'd been stupid to think otherwise. Walking through the snow he kept hearing his own words come back to him. Everything he'd ever told Donnie, it was all true. Heck, the only reason April was probably even interested in his brother was because she found out she was a mutant freak too.

By the time he made it back to the farm most of the lights were off, but he didn't even bother going into the house. Rebinding his knuckles, he turned to the punching bag. He worked into it until his the pain in his heart migrated to his knuckles and the muscles of his arms. He'd made a mistake, but it was the last time.


	17. Choices Made

Val waited, watching as her father's already angry face twisted into rage. "That what he tell you?" he growled low. "Cause I have it on real good authority that he's lying."

"What are you talking about? Lying about what?" Val asked. "The retro-mutag..."

"About who he was, before the mutation," Gerald interrupted her. Seeing his daughter's confusion he groaned, shaking his head as he sat next to her. "While I was talking with Leo he told me about their mutation. The man they call their father, their sensei, he was a normal man, but the four of them, they were his pet turtles."

Val looked at him skeptically. "Mutation doesn't even work that way," she scoffed, but it was only too obvious that she wasn't sure. The pity in his eyes told her that he wasn't lying. Her mind reeled. It couldn't be possible, could it? His voice, his arms, his eyes, they were all human. She pinched the bridge of her nose, shutting her eyes against the barrage of thoughts.

When she was a girl, she'd caught a little turtle in one of the creeks. At first she wanted to keep him as a pet, but all he did was eat leaves, walk lazily around, and sleep. It hadn't taken her three whole hours to get bored and let him go. He sure as heck wasn't a substitute for the friends she'd left behind in the city. But Raph? He'd worried about her when she'd sprained her ankle and held her when she'd cried and given her his lucky talisman. Her hand slid into her pocket and she ran her fingers over the carving on the knife. He remembered that she like foxes. She put her fingers to the place where he'd kissed her cheek. "I don't care," she said, her voice barely above a whisper, her eyes still closed.

"What?" her father asked, looking at her like she'd lost her mind.

Her gaze shot up at him, her eyes were burning embers. "I don't care," she said slowly, accentuating every word. "I don't care who or what he was before! I don't care what you or anyone else thinks about it! I don't care if _you_ think I can do better, because I don't want 'better', I want _him_! If that makes me wrong or sick or crazy, I don't **care**!" Pushing back her chair she pushed past her mother as she rushed out the door towards her room.

"Gerald," Lydia said softly as she stood in front of her husband, looking into his bewildered and angry face. "You've got to let her live her own life."

"But it's wrong," he growled. Anyone else may have flinched, but she heard the pleading in his voice. This was his little girl, his princess. He was trying to keep her safe.

Lydia knelt in front of him and took both his hands in hers. "You remember Sarah?" she asked him.

"This isn't the same thing," he said. "She was in love with another person..."

"And so is Val," Lydia reminded him gently. "You talked with his brother. You've watched them. They're not animals."

"But they're not human," he said, the desperation creeping further into his voice. It's not right, he thought.

"And neither are we. Not completely," she said, "not any more."

He wanted to argue with her, but there was nothing he could say. He looked down at her delicate, brown fingers laced with his fur covered hands. If he'd been spared mutation would he have left Lydia? His mind played over questions he'd never even considered before. Of course he wouldn't have left her. No one could replace Lydia no matter her body looked like. He loved her spirit and her gentle nature. She was irreplaceable.

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Val pulled the curtain that served as her door. Either of her parents could have barged in, but she knew they wouldn't. They were good for that at least, she thought, rolling over on her bed so that she could look out the window. The sky was so clear it looked like she could have touched the stars. She pulled the knife out of her pocket and opened it, watching as the sharp, little blade glistened in the candlelight. She thought about the story he'd told her; about finding it when he was little. What was he like when he was a kid, she wondered, and how close had they lived? She knew they lived in an abandoned subway station underground; that they had to go through the sewers to get there. What kind of childhood could that have been? All her childhood memories of the city were of people; being pressed between people on busy streets, people dancing or singing on the street, people playing in crowded parks, people everywhere. That was what she'd missed most when they'd first moved. She couldn't imagine living below all those people and still staying hidden.

Carefully closing the blade, she closed her hand around it. She'd see him tomorrow night, she thought with a tiny smile playing at the corners of her lips. It didn't matter what any of the rest of them thought. She fell asleep clutching the knife. Tomorrow night, she kept thinking over and over again until it became a lullaby.

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Raph looked down at the punching bag that lay in the snow. Stupid ring snapped, he thought, seriously considering how much hassle it would be to change right then and there. Instead he stalked to the house. The smart thing to do would have been to ice down his knuckles and go to sleep, but he didn't feel much like it. He thought of robbing Casey's stash of beer in the garage cellar. Shaking his head, he turned back to the house; he had enough problems without a hangover and a lecture from Lameonardo in the morning. In the dark kitchen he filled a bag of ice and sat at the table. His mind ran over the night even though he didn't want to; it felt like every glance she'd given him, her small hand in his, her soft lips on his cheek, all of them had been a lie. They'd been meant for someone who didn't even exist.

He was so deep in thought that he didn't hear Donnie's footsteps until he was at the kitchen door. When Donnie flicked the switch, the light burned Raph's eyes. For a moment Donnie looked between Raph's sour face and the ice on his right hand, dumbfounded. "What happened to you? I thought you were going to meet Val?"

His first instinct was to tell Donnie to just can it, but he found himself saying, "She was talking with her dad. She thought we'd been normal guys before the mutation; thought your damned retro-mutagen would 'fix' us. Fix me!" He scoffed.

"Wow," Donnie exhaled, sliding into a chair across from his brother. "That's... wow."

"Yeah, tell me about it," Raph grumbled.

"Well, I mean, maybe she'd understand if you explained..." Donnie started searching for something logical.

"Explained what, genius?!" Raph said, his temper flaring. "Oh, the guy you've been flirtin' with, yeah, he's nothin' but an over-sized pet turtle! Yeah, that'll go over _great_. I'm pretty sure normal people've got some pretty strong taboos against that kind of shit!"

"It's not really that simple. Half of our DNA is human, so technically, we're probably at least as human as her family..." Donnie started.

"You don't get it, though! A couple of drops of your little potion and BAM, they're all back to full blown human! You got something's gonna take the turtle outta me? Nope, I'm pretty sure ya don't! So just stop. It ain't gonna work! Nothin' I can say's gonna make it any better," Raph pushed his chair back as he stood up. "Look, do me a favor and don't tell April or the rest of the guys."

Donnie was hesitant, but he nodded. "You really ought to talk to her," he said as Raph was about the leave the room.

Raph waved it off, though. "See you in the morning," he muttered. He couldn't muster a "good night;" there wasn't anything good about that night.


	18. Midnight

A/N- Thanks again to everyone who's supported me in writing this story, whether you've added it to your favorites, followed it, written reviews, or sent me messages! You guys and gals are really what keeps me going on this one. My playlist for the last three chapters has been: Hallelujah- Jeff Buckley, Bring on the Wonder- Susan Enan, Je M'endors- Beausoleil, Skinny Love- Birdy, and Sheets- Damien Jurado.

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By the time Val woke the sun was already up. Panicking, she felt around in the sheets and quilts until she found the pocket knife. Outside her window she heard the dull, steady thud of an ax. She shivered as her bare feet hit the cold floor. Her dad was in the clearing, cutting the firewood she was supposed to finish. "What on Earth?" she whispered, quickly pulling her clothes out the dresser. This was either really good or really bad. Either way, like diving off a high cliff into deep water, it was best to just suck it up and get it over with.

In a few minutes she was downstairs. Her mom was in the living room, spinning wool. The clacking of the peddle was almost like a song. "Morning," Val said, forcing a smile.

"Morning," her mom answered, "there's doughnuts in the pantry; third shelf to the right."

She pulled two out and poured a mug of coffee. "Dad mad at me?" she asked as she leaned against the table, watching her mom and eating breakfast.

"Nope," Lydia said, grinning back at her daughter. "Let's call last night an overreaction on his part. I think he feels bad about it, too, so go easy on him."

She cast a skeptical look at her mother but didn't say anything else. All her life she'd been a Daddy's girl; it jarred her reality that in this case her mother seemed to understand her more than her father did. Maybe that was the way it was supposed to be about these things.

"What do you think?" Val ask, the words spilled off her lips before she could rethink them.

"About Raphael?" her mother asked, slightly amused. "I think if you like him, he must have a kind nature under that tough front." She waited a moment and then looked back at her daughter's startled face with a grin. "Way more 'your type' than Casey or Leo."

Val grinned, "Way."

"Then I'm happy for you," Lydia said honestly. "As long as you're happy and in love, that's a good thing."

"Whoa," Val said freezing on her way to put the mug in the sink. "No one said anything about 'love'. Serious 'like' maybe, but love? Nope."

Lydia didn't answer, just chuckled to herself as she added another cluster of wool to the clutch she was turning into yarn. She watched as Val trudged through the snow to join her father. Her daughter could say what she wanted to; she knew love when she saw it.

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"You didn't have to start on this," Val said, as she approached the clearing with her own ax over her shoulder.

"I know that," he said, planting the ax into the chopping block and throwing the cut wood onto the pile. "I didn't have to let you sleep in either; consider it my way of saying 'I'm sorry'. I acted like a jerk last night."

Val grinned, "Nah, you acted like an overprotective dad. It's easy to confuse them sometimes."

"Still my princess?" he asked.

"Warrior princess," Val corrected him with a giggle at their old joke. The day may not fly by, but at least it was looking brighter, she thought as she started working.

They finished just after the sun went down. Val didn't think supper had ever gone as slowly. Afterwards she heated up some water in the broiler and took a shower, washing her hair. Everyone was still up when she got up, and the clock only showed 7:15. She sighed as she grabbed her well worn copy of Pride and Prejudice and sat with her back to the fire. It felt like it took forever for everyone to finally drift off to bed. Her hair was completely dry when the clock finally read 10:30. It wasn't like she was really sneaking out, per se. She could always say that she was going out to check on the goats, who were in the middle of kidding season and it wasn't like she wasn't allowed out the house.

Still she closed the door silently behind her and kept to the shadows as she walked to the barn and slid inside. She only left a small crack in the door so she had enough moonlight to see to light her lantern. Handing it up on a post, she climbed up on a high stack of hay and waited.

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Raph leaned against the railing of the porch looking out to the woods. The moon was full and it gave an eerie glow to the snow in the yard. Inside the house the clock chimed 11. She was going to hate him. It was a strange feeling, knowing he was going to hurt her, but knowing it was for the best. She was a pretty girl, and her dad was right. In a year she could go wherever she wanted and live a life he could never give her.

He tried to convince himself that it would have been selfish for him to string her along, and even worse for him to try to plead his case. At best, she'd feel sorry for him. Yeah, he thought angrily, it's a pretty sad day when pity is the best thing you've got going for you.

Casey walked out onto the porch. "What gives, Raph?" he drawled, leaning up against the side of the house.

"Whaddaya mean?" Raph said, really wishing his friend would go back into the house.

"I don't know; you've been ticked off all day," Casey said. "Like, more ticked off than usual."

"Jeez, you sound like a broad," Raph groaned. "You wanna do our nails while we talk about our feelings. I'm havin' a crappy day, okay? Just drop it."

"Sure man," he said. "Wanna go grab a beer?"

In truth, he didn't. He wanted to go drive into the newly rehung punching back until he broke the ring again. He really wanted to just give in, apologize for being late, and try to pretend that he didn't know anything about what he'd overheard. But he nodded, and followed Casey into the barn.

"You know, you oughta get Donnie to help you soup this one up," Raph said, looking at the car Casey was revamping yet again. "He could probably get you some nitrous, maybe put in a weapon's system..."

Casey snorted, as he came up through the cellar door holding six beers in his hands. "Yeah, that's what this thing needs. Missiles."

"Heat guided," Raph agreed.

He handed Raph one of the bottles and set one on the hood of the car, "I'm gonna go stick these four out in the snow. I'd bet my last dollar they're better cold."

"Can't be much worse," Raph thought. It surprised him, though, because between Casey's company and the beer, he actually felt a little better as the time went by. He was doing the best thing for both of them. She may never understand that, but he was.

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Val waited for an hour and a half. A couple of the kid goats woke, and she played with them. Maybe the time just seemed to pass slowly, she thought, but when she finally decided to run back into the house for her book the clock was at midnight. Sighing, she walked back out into the yard and looked around. No mutant turtle sized footprints in the snow.

She walked out into the woods, towards the farm. The lights in the house were all out. Maybe he'd gotten sick or hurt. There were lights on in the barn, though, and she circled around the treeline until she was standing in front of the wide barn doors. Raph and Casey were sitting on the hood of the car, talking. Her temper flared. He'd stood her up.

Raph was starting to feel warm and happy when he caught sight of a ghostly figure in the treeline. Not the traditional kind of ghost with a long, flowing dress and blank eyes. Nope, this one wore blue jeans, hiking boots, a heavy white coat, and a white hooded cowl. Only her brown eyes showed, and they were furious.


	19. Aftermath

Val seriously considered just turning back into the woods and running back home. She'd just finished up her punishment for spending the night at the farm, and honestly, she was beginning to think it wasn't worth having to chop any more wood. Just as she turned to leave, though, she caught movement in the barn out of the corner of her eye. Raph climbed off the hood of the car, staggering a little and walked out to the doorway. "Val?" he called.

Taking a deep breath she turned and stomped towards the barn. Raph stepped closer to her, a goofy smile crossing his lips. "Hey Val," he said, "didn't think you'd be here."

A strong whiff of alcohol hit her nose. "Are you... drunk?" she asked, wrinkling her nose up. Her mom and dad made wine and beer sometimes and she'd seen drunk people on movies and TV shows, but never in real life.

Casey laughed from his perch on the car, "He's a real lightweight; just had three beers."

"Hey," Raph objected, "I'm handlin' in just fine, Jones." His words slurred together slightly, betraying him. Outside of the one beer he'd had the last time they'd spent an evening talking in the barn, he'd never drank before and it was hitting him a bit harder than he'd expected.

"Sure you are," Val muttered. "So you just decide to blow me off so you can stay home and get drunk with Casey?"

"Nope, I stayed home and got drunk with Casey cause I decided to blow you off," Raph paused, going over the sentence again, squinting as he mouthed the words. "Yeah, that's it."

"Man, you were supposed to meet her tonight?" Casey asked in the background, trying to put the puzzle pieces together.

"Oh, my God," Val said. "Dad was right."

"See. I knew you'd come around to seeing it from our point of view eventually," Raph said with a halfhearted smirk.

Val gave a mirthless laugh, shaking her head, "I'd hit you right now, but you're just not worth the effort." Turning her back to him she walked off into the darkness.

Raph's shoulders fell as she faded into the shadows of the forest. "Okay, so I'm confused," Casey said, climbing off the car. "You were totally into her, and she was into you. Why the hell would you stand her up?"

"You wouldn't understand," Raph grumbled, his eyes still on the treeline. He half expected her to come back, if nothing else to re-bust his lip. His tongue flicked over the healing memento of the morning they sparred.

"Try me," Casey said, his eyes searching Raph's face. It didn't make any sense at all.

"She thinks I'm like you," Raph said low, "under all this; that I'm just some human kid that got too close to mutagen."

"Oh," well that put a few things in perspective. "But I mean, you kinda are."

"No, I'm not! Jesus, Jones, don't you get it! I'm a_ turtle_! That's who I am, and no god damned amount of retro-mutagen is gonna fix that! I'm not what she wants; not really," what started out as angry shouts fell on the last words so that they were barely audible. He felt broken and barely able to fight off the waves of emotion. Damned beer, he thought, pushing past Casey as he went to the house. If he was going to break down like a stupid girl he wasn't going to do it in front of his best friend. He locked the door and fell onto his bed.

He couldn't shake the image of her face, angry and disgusted. Would that be the way he always remembered her? She was probably cursing at him as she trudged through the thick snow back to her house. It would be okay, though, he told himself; he was used to having people mad at him. She wasn't any different, not really.

Groaning he rolled over. Yeah, he wasn't buying that.

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Val stuck the last of several logs into the snow and walked back. Taking the bow off her shoulder she sighted the first one in, exhaling as she released the first arrow. In a fluid motion she pulled another arrow out, and loaded it while she drew back the string. Inhale, sight, exhale, release, reload. Inhale, sight, exhale, release, reload. She made all fifteen targets then retrieving her arrows went back and shot over again.

By the fourth round her nerves were feeling less raw. What on Earth had she been thinking, trusting a 15 year old kid with her heart? Of all the stupid, stupid things she'd ever done. She'd half hoped he'd just forgotten, but he meant to do leave her waiting in that cold barn for an hour and a half. And she found him, drunk and probably laughing with Casey about what an idiot she was.

She sighed as she pulled her arrows out one last time and returned them to the quiver. She was exhausted and the dawn wasn't many hours off. Climbing the ladder to her bedroom, she vowed that she wouldn't ever trust him again. He'd made a fool out of her once; that would be the last time.

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The next day she sat with her mother, mending clothes. She sucked her thumb after pricking it with the needle for what felt like the millionth time since they'd started. "What's wrong?" her mom asked.

"Ugh, whoever invented needles was a sadist," she grumbled.

Lydia chuckled, "That all? Needles?"

Val considered just agreeing, but she didn't. "Raph stood me up last night," she said bitterly.

"Maybe something happened," Lydia offered.

"Yeah, he _decided_ to stand me up! I went to the farm to see if he was okay and he told me he'd meant to leave me waiting," she said, leaving out the part about finding him drunk with Casey. She may be mad at Raph, but she wanted to still be able to visit April.

"Did he tell you why?" Lydia asked.

"No," Val grumbled, hissing as the needle stuck her finger again.

"Maybe you should ask him," she said. "Sometimes when you're in a relationship, especially a new one, your communication will get misunderstood and both of you will wind up mad at each other for no good reason."

Val glared at her mother skeptically.

"I'm serious," Lydia said. "I heard you valiantly defending this boy two nights ago. You're telling me that you've got absolutely no feelings for him now? I don't buy it."

"Yeah, I've got feelings for him alright. Anger."

Lydia shook her head, "I think you ought to put that anger aside for a while and find out exactly why he didn't show up last night. I think you owe that to him and yourself."

Val wanted to respond that she didn't owe him anything, but she just put a few more stitches in the shirt she was working on. Maybe he did have a good excuse, although what it was, she couldn't imagine.

"I can take care of these things if you want to go," Lydia said softly.

Val didn't say anything as she handed her mother the shirt with a sigh.

"Remember, keep an open mind and keep your anger to yourself. At least until you find out if he's got a decent excuse. Promise?"

"Sure," Val muttered, pulling her coat on. In truth, her anger wasn't as hot as it had been the night before, even though her pride was still as raw. Walking through the snow covered woods she kept trying to remember to keep her mind blank. You don't know what happened, she kept thinking in a voice that sounded a lot like her mom's. He'd better have a good excuse, she thought in her own voice.

On the farm, Raph was pulling himself out of the snow after having been beat by Casey during morning training. Had his head not hurt so bad, he would have been furious that he'd been one upped by Jones. As it stood, though, all he wanted to do was crawl back into bed. It was official, he was never getting drunk again. Nothing good came of it. Mikey would never let him live this one down. He stood on the edge, watching as the others paired up again and fought.

When they were done he went to his room, but rather than lay down in the bed, he pulled out the first drawer and laid it on the bed. Taking out a sharpening tool, he started on the collection of knives. There was something about the repetition that was comforting. He focused on the blades, blocking out any thoughts of the night before that strayed into his mind. It was over, he thought, completely over.


	20. A Little Luck

A/N- All of you guys and gals who are reading, reviewing, favoriting, and following, THANK YOU! We've finally made it to Chapter 20! ^_^ I hope you've enjoyed the journey so far.

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Val took a deep breath as she stood at the foot of the stairs leading up to the porch. She felt completely stupid; what was she supposed to say to him anyway. "Okay, why did you stand me up last night? Don't worry, I'm not going to scream or throw anything sharp at your head, no matter how tempted I may get." Yeah, she groaned, that'd go over well...

She was turning to leave when Mikey burst out of the house, "Hey Val!" he said bounding down the steps in two leaps. "Brice here?"

"Nope," she said. "He's still grounded for another week and a half. I'll tell him you asked, though." She turned to go again, but Mikey walked alongside her.

"You came to see Raph?" he asked.

She blushed, "Yeah, but..."

"Hey, Ra..." he shouted, but she lunged forward and put both hands on his mouth.

"It's okay," she whispered. "I'll talk to him later. Really. Just please don't tell him I was here."

Mikey gave her a perplexed look as she slowly took her hands off his mouth, "You came all the way here to see him, but you don't wanna see him?"

"Yes," she said slowly. "And you're going to keep it a secret, right?" she nodded.

"Okay..." he looked at her through the corner of his eye as he turned around. "Girls are so weird," he muttered as he walked back up the steps.

Sighing with relief she quickly rounded the side of the house but as she did Donnie rushed out of the barn, jogging to meet her. "Hey Val," he called out, waving. "You got a sec?"

Biting back a groan she nodded. "Sure, what's going on?" she asked.

"Have you talked to Raph," he asked, "since yesterday morning?"

She shook her head. Outside of the handful words they'd exchanged the night before she hadn't talked to him since they left Christmas night.

"I think you need to," he said, his voice so earnest that Val felt a twinge of guilt for turning away before she'd talked with him in the first place.

"What aren't you telling me?" she asked, eyeing him skeptically.

He looked towards the house. "That's not for me to say," he said cryptically. "He's probably still in his room."

Val pursed her lips with a slow nod, "And I know where that is." She paused for a moment. "Hey Don?" she hesitated. "You know what I did wrong?"

He gave her a sympathetic smile and put a warm hand on her arm, "I don't think you did anything. It's just a misunderstanding."

She smiled at him as she turned back to the house. Mikey ran to the door a couple of seconds after she knocked. "Hey, you're back!" he exclaimed pulling her into the house. "Hey R..." she clamped her hands over his mouth again.

"I'll just go up and see him, k?" she whispered, winking at him as she released his mouth and hurried up the stairs before he could follow. In a moment the video game on the TV downstairs started up again.

There was a crack in Raph's door, and she hesitated for a moment. She heard the familiar scrapping of knives being sharpened. Her hand went into her pocket, feeling the pocket knife. He'd better have a good excuse or I'm going to jam this up his nose, Val thought before she remembered to take a deep breath and try to keep an open mind.

She knocked, but he ignored it. Rolling her eyes she knocked again. "Whaddaya want?" he grumbled.

"An explanation," she said, trying to keep her voice bland.

He opened the door, completely perplexed by her presence. His jaw flexed as he tried to collect his thoughts. What the hell did she want to hear? That he was sorry? Well, he was, but it wasn't like saying it would help anything. He did what he had to.

She looked at him with a raised eyebrow, waiting.

"Look, we'd a never worked out anyway," he said gruffly. "Consider last night an act of mercy."

"Mercy?!" she scoffed. "You could have at least had the decency to show up and tell me that!"

"That woulda made it better?" he asked rhetorically as he opened the door wider. "You wanna come in or you just gonna shout at me from the hallway?"

Her eyes narrowed. She desperately wanted to scream, "No! I want to bash your shell in, that's what I "wanna" do! You heartless jerk!" But she walked in, closing the door behind her and leaning against it. "It wouldn't have made it worse," she said finally, staring into his green eyes. "If you didn't think it would work, why'd you ask me to meet you there in the first place?"

His hand froze over the knife he was about to put away. It was such an easy answer; because I like you. As simple as it was, though, his mouth couldn't form the words.

"Did you just ask me so you and Casey could laugh at me? Was I the butt of some stupid _joke_?" she asked.

Her words cut into him. Damn it; of all the crazy ideas she could have locked onto...

"Answer me!" she shouted, banging her fist against the door.

"That wasn't it," he said barely above a whisper.

"Then what was it?! Why'd you ask me? Why'd you pretend to care?" she shook with rage she could hardly contain.

"Cause I thought you liked me for who I am," he blurted out, as he spun to face her. "It was stupid; probably the stupidest thing I've ever done. But I ain't some normal guy that just got mutated into a freak turtle! Whatcha see, that's the best it'll get! _Ever_! Donnie's retro-mutagen, it ain't gonna work on me!"

She stared at him in complete bewilderment, "I knew that."

"You... what?" he asked.

"Leo told Dad and he told me..." she started. Suddenly everything fell into place. "You idiot," she scoffed, shaking her head. "You listened in on Dad and me!"

He looked at her in shock.

"So when exactly did you chicken out?" Val asked fuming. "Must of been pretty early on, cause you didn't know he'd told me, and you sure as hell didn't know my reaction!"

"I..." Raph started, then hesitated. "What was your reaction?"

Val's eyes narrowed, "I told him it didn't matter to me; who you were, whether or not you were 'really' human, none of it. But you know what, none of that matters now anyway because I sure as hell don't want to be with some coward sneak!"

She turned to walk out the room, but he grabbed her arm. She spun around and clocked him on the jaw, but he didn't budge. "I shoulda trusted you," he said softly, not quite meeting her eyes. "I screwed everything up."

"Well, that's damned right," she grumbled, her eyes barely softening even though she stopped fighting against him.

He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

She dug in her pocket with her free hand and pulled the pocket knife out, holding it out to him on her palm.

"Aw, come on, Val," he almost pleaded, staring down at the knife but refusing to take it.

"You know, I held this all Christmas night, after that fight with Dad," she said, turning it over. "It's a pretty lousy lucky talisman, if you ask me."

His brow furrowed for a minute before he put his hand over hers, curling her fingers over the knife, "Maybe you oughta give it another chance." A faint, almost sad smile crept into her lips. He caught it and it gave him a surge of confidence. He let go of her arm and put his hands on both sides of her face. "And maybe," he said, his voice a low rumble, "you could give me another one too."

She let out a short, snorting laugh and shook her head, saying, "You're impossible, you know that?" but she gave him the first real smile he'd seen on her lips in two days. He couldn't help it; he leaned in and kissed those wicked, beautiful lips. She tasted like mint and coffee and better than anything he'd experienced before. Yeah, he thought to himself, that's one hell of a lucky knife.


	21. Whatever You're Doing at Midnight

December 31st, 2012

"Hey, Mom and April want you back at the house," Brice said flippantly watching as his sister pulled herself into another chin-up.

She dropped into the snow, "I didn't know April was coming this early. You know what they want?"

He shrugged, then turned and walked off. She rolled her eyes; very helpful, little brat. Wiping the sweat off her forehead with her arm, she pulled the hood back around her ears. Behind the house they'd set up another bonfire, and rumor was Casey had scored some fireworks.

"Oh wow, I can see what you meant," April laughed to Lydia when Val shuffled into the kitchen. She'd left the wet boots on the back porch and was looking between both of them, sweaty, frazzle haired, and beginning to be afraid.

"What?" she asked, watching them exchange looks that she didn't understand.

"Well, honey," Lydia said, walking up to her daughter and taking her by the hands. "Tonight's kind of a special occasion, and we thought it would be fun to make you over."

Val's eyes opened wide and she took a step back. "No way," she said, reaching behind her for the doorknob. "I'll just take a shower and I'll be fine."

"A shower's a good start," Lydia said. "We'll be ready when you get back."

Val groaned, but went to her bedroom and grabbed a fresh set of clothes before she went to the shower. Leaning into the stream of water she grumbled, "I'm fine just the way I am. What's their problem?" Over the years she'd come to expect this kind of craziness from her mom, but April? Ugh.

She thought of just sneaking out the back door; she could run to the farm. If she wrapped her wet hair, it shouldn't be too bad. Raph would probably have a good laugh about her dodging their shenanigans, but April caught her in the hallway and grabbed her arm, leading her back to the kitchen. The table was laid out with all kinds of beauty supplies. "Dad fixed the hair dryer?" Val shook her head. Was he in on this insanity too? Probably not.

Lydia took one look at her ratty sweater and sweat pants and sighed. "Clothes, first," she said pointedly.

April went into the living room and pulled several pieces off the sofa. "Red, I think," she said, holding a red dress up to her.

"I'm going to freeze to death in that!" Val objected as she looked at the short, sleeveless dress.

"Oh, it's just for supper, you can change before we go outside," her mom said with a smile. "It's really pretty."

She took the garment and held it against her. The hemline fell four inches above her knees. She looked hard at her mother and best friend. "You've _got_ to be joking."

Despite her protests, she consented to try it on. It was April's, so it was a little too short, with a few tailored curves she couldn't fill, but even she had to admit (to herself) that it looked okay on her. "Oh, I wish we had a set of heels that would fit you," Lydia lamented. They didn't have anything that even closely resembled a set of dress shoes in her size.

"Yeah, because what I really need is to be a whole foot taller than my boyfriend," Val griped.

"It's fine, we'll just use these," April said, grabbing Val's set of knee high leather boots. "You could pull off the whole punk look." She unlaced the boots halfway and turned down the tops, standing back and examining her handiwork. "What do you think?"

Val wrinkled up her nose. "I don't guess it would do any good to complain?"

"None at all," April laughed, sitting her down at the table. Val tried to block out much of what they asked her as the dried and curled her hair, bickering over how it ought to be styled, then started on her face. They polished nails, put rouge on her cheeks, curled her lashes, and sprayed her with perfume. In the end she sat staring into a mirror at a complete stranger; a pretty stranger, but a stranger none the less.

"You two going to make yourselves look ridiculous too, or is it just me?" she grumbled as April put a set of long dangle earrings on her ears.

April rolled her eyes, "Raph's going to be speechless. And yes, we're both about to get ready. Don't you dare get messed up! Don't touch anything until your fingernails dry."

She plopped down on the couch, obediently holding her fingers out so that the red polish could dry. Her stomach seemed to dance with an anxiety that she hadn't felt when she'd woken up that morning. This, she though to herself, was exactly why she hated doing this kind of thing.

From the doorway there was a peal of laughter. "Oh my God," Brice gasped, "you look like a girl!"

Val shot him an evil look, "I am a girl, you idiot!"

"Yeah, but you look like one," he continued to chuckle.

Well, she thought, at least he didn't say I look like a clown. Which is sort of what she'd been feeling like. If "girl" was the worst insult he could think of it may not look all that bad.

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Raph froze in the doorway. When his eyes met hers Val blushed almost as scarlet as her dress. "Wow," he mouthed silently, pulling her into a hug he whispered, "You look... god, you're hot."

Pulling back a little, she teased him, "It's the boots, isn't it?"

"Definitely," he chuckled. Actually, the boots were a nice touch. They were enough of the Val he knew to make the whole thing really irresistible. It took all his strength to keep from staring at her all through supper. He was still on kind of rocky terms with Gerald, and he doubted that ogling his daughter would help matters.

When supper was over she hurried upstairs to slid into a pair of jeans and sweater. Catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror she sighed. Back to reality, Cinderella, she thought, looking at her bland apparel. She kept her hair down in its cascading curls, though, sliding the half-laced boots back on.

When she joined them in the yard, Raph came up behind her and put his arms around her waist, giving her a small kiss on her neck. "Still the hottest girl I know," he whispered into her hair, sending shivers down her spine.

"You know," Lydia said with a sly grin as she walked past them. "Whatever you're doing at midnight on New Year's is what you're supposed to spend the rest of the year doing."

"Mom!" Val objected as she and Raph moved a bit further from each other.

"I'm just saying; it's an important thing to know," she added as she walked away to meet her husband. Gerald looked torn between being happy that his little girl was happy and angry that the punk kid had the gall to kiss her in front of him.

"Out of everyone she could have picked, she had to go with the hothead," he grumbled.

Lydia laughed, wrapping her arms around his waist as she gently kissed his cheek and whispered into his ear, "I don't know. He kind of reminds me of this crazy, young Private that just wouldn't leave me alone back in the day."

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11:50 pm

Val was leaning against Raph's shoulder watching the rather impressive fireworks display Casey and Leo were putting on. "So you got any big plans for 2013?" Raph asked looking down at the beautiful girl in his arms.

She chuckled. "I don't make big plans," she said softly. "What about you?"

"We're gonna re-take the city," his voice was low and serious. He knew what that meant. He'd have to leave her. For the first time, the thought of going back to NYC brought him a twinge of pain.

She nodded. "I want to go with you," she said without looking at him.

"Whoa now, that's way too dangerous for you..." he started.

"April's going," she argued, turning her gaze up to him. "I can fight at least as well as she can."

"Yeah, but she's got chips in the game," he said.

She looked at him flatly for a moment, letting the stupidity of that statement seep in, "Oh, yeah, the Kraang haven't screwed up my life at all," she muttered.

He pulled her closer. There wasn't any guarantee he could keep her safe, and he knew her well enough to know she'd want to be in the thick of battle. "We'll talk about it later," he said.

"One minute to midnight!" Mikey called out.

"So what do you want to be doing at midnight?" Val laughed.

"I'm doing it," he said, lacing his broad fingers with hers. As the others started counting down he leaned down and kissed her lips. Overhead the fireworks exploded into brilliant blossoms, like a celestial springtime. He wished he could keep doing this for the rest of the year, for the rest of forever. He'd never been one for hope or wishes, but maybe, just maybe, this time they'd work out.

Fini

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A/N- Thank you so much for all of your support on this story! I really hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. I'm thinking of doing at least one sequel later. (Plot bunnies spawn like... well... bunnies.) Again, thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who read, reviewed, followed, and favorited! Until next time ^_^

Much love,

CaCadeA

P.S.- The song on repeat for this chapter was Guardian-Alanis Morissette.


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